Original subtitles

The city breathed more heavily than usual that summer.

Its breath puffed smoke from hundreds of smokestacks

into the clear sky.

The sky struck us as suddenly

incongruous and hard to take.

The air weighed heavy upon us.

And the water - that damned water

that had stunk of chemicals since we could think -

tasted bitter to us.

But the earth still bore us and would bear us

as long as it existed.

So we returned to our daily work

that we'd interrupted for a moment.

Who'd have thought that it was all so important?

We lived our lives to the fullest,

as if this strange substance - Life - abounded

and would never run dry.

Directed by KONRAD WOLF

You're healthy.

Nervous shock. Can you explain it?

Her studies must have become too much for her.

-A man? -No, I'd know about that.

She has no secrets from me.

And now for the last dance!

-Could you love someone like me? -Yes.

So began their story.

A banal story,, if you like.

It's all behind her, in any case.

Two years of her life lie behind her.

The brown-haired maiden,

with her brown fur cap, like in a Russian novel.

It's exactly how I imagined it: standing here in the cold,

Iooking at watering cans and baby's baths

and not knowing where things will go from here.

What do you mean?

We just let the novel continue.

Uh huh... for example?

For example,

the heroine says to the hero:

"You come to meet my folks, who still don't know

you exist, and have to meet you so they can invite you over

for Christmas goose."

Enough plot for one day?

Enough?

More than enough.

Here's to your doctoral exams!

-Let's hope it all goes well. -To your dear parents!

Thank you.

Last night I dreamt we were celebrating Christmas at home.

My father lifted his glass and drank to my health, and then

- in the dream, of course -

I threw all the glasses and plates against the wall.

Must you shock people like that?

Why are they shocked?

-Your father... -My father... is a German man.

He took care of WWIl

by losing an eye in WWI.

He still thinks the same way: Sacrifice an eye, stay alive.

You're being unfair.

Why don't they want to admit we've all grown up without parents?

Warm,

soft and brown.

Go ahead, look at me.

Like this?

Like that.

I'm not the first woman you've been with, am l?

No.

Have you had many?

Several.

You're getting me used to all kinds of things.

Promise me one thing: don't ever adapt to anything impossible

for my sake, you hear?

What could happen that's impossible?

How many altogether?

20 student teachers recruited.

-20? Not bad for this area! -1 9, Herr Schwarzenbach.

Twenty.

TEACHER TRAlNlNG COLLEGE

-I can't do this. -You can.

And you know it, too.

I'm afraid.

It happens.

You can spin from the edge of the world into the center.

All of a sudden, every,thing is possible:

every, fairy,tale miracle, every, great deed.

Even today, girls arrive for the first time in the big city.

Thousands of strange faces every, minute.

Nobody pays attention to anyone else.

How easy to get lost here.

Is there still room for your own experience?

My coffin residence,

divided into living coffin, dining coffin, sleeping coffin,

cooking coffin.

-Come. -But why...?

Why? Because nothing lively ever happened here

as long as I can remember.

Have no fear, brown-haired maiden,

I'll show you where we'll really live.

So long as you insist on boring me with

exercise books, tutoring, and whiny parents, anyway.

You won't make it. You don't know life.

I see.

I'll have to be the one to get flowers.

You're good.

As good as a girl can be.

For that, I'll make you the finest salads in the evenings

and in winter we'll toast bread on the stove.

Yes, that's how it should be.

Listen... If you hadn't danced the last dance...

If you'd kept quiet when l wanted to go inside...

Perish the thought.

But I had planned everything in advance.

-I was scared stiff! -But nobody could tell.

Yes they could. Yours went well.

History was always my favorite subject.

Wait a moment.

I sat in the back corner once.

If someone had asked, I'd have said history

was my favorite subject. Later, I taught a bit of everything,

history the least of all.

What are you doing until the semester starts?

I'll be at the railcar works.

It smells like malt coffee. West wind.

It's going to rain. Come.

My way to school...

and there, around the corner,

... the river.

How it has changed!

So, tomorrow to the works.

Do you have to?

I promised.

If you think it's worth it for you?

I don't know.

I just want to do it.

ERMlSCH BRlGADE

THE FAMOUS BRlGADE

You two, take her with you.

Brilliant, Ermisch.

One is too young for her and the other too old.

Guten Appetit! Enjoy your meal.

Girls used to prepare for marriage in boarding schools.

Now they stick them in the factory,

with a bunch of men.

That was before, Elfriede.

Miss Rita is a modern person.

Times have changed through and through.

Isn't it quitting time, Ulrich?

You've already taken off your Party badge.

It looks easy, but there's a lot to learn.

Be careful, guys!

This many railcars have never been built here before.

Next thing you know, we'll stack them on top of each other.

Or not.

Did you say something, Kuhl?

No, we're a famous brigade.

Exactly.

So, now you know the most important things, girl.

Yes, Herr Meternagel.

A law unto themselves, the Ermisches.

But things won't stay the way they are.

Mark my words.

Rolf Meternagel is great.

Meternagel's still around?

You think the people father trips up just go away?

Don't use that tone of voice!

For a long time, my son has preferred to defame

the responsible activities of his father!

No one can claim I'm a despot!

But there are certain limits that... Limits!

-More soup, Ulrich? -Yes.

I won't put up with this insulting behavior!

If it's youth's privilege to be inconsiderate,

then respect for your father ought to

keep you from being crude.

I know this old record. I don't want to hear it.

In fact, I'm not interested in anything you have to say.

Manfred! Remember, he's your Father;

don't cut the ties between you.

All because of that Meternagel.

As if it were about him!

I don't even know your Meternagel.

If you say he's an upright guy, I'll believe you.

Last year, he was still the foreman in your factory.

He didn't tell you that, did he?

He had the misfortune to have dishonest people under him

and my father as his boss.

He let him walk into the trap, snapped shut at the right moment.

3,000 marks gone.

Apparently Meternagel raised hell.

"l save my skin and will as long as I can" -

it's the first story I remember. I heard it hundreds of times,

Iike other kids heard Sleeping Beauty or Little Red Riding Hood.

It's the tale of my birth.

There were once a man and a woman who loved each other,

but couldn't have children.

There were some miscarriages -

but they're not part of the fairytale.

At last, the longed-for wonder child was born:

me, a premature birth.

"Too weak to live," the doctors said.

My mother coddled me.

-I feel sorry for her. -I do too.

How often I heard fights and weeping from their bedroom

when she found out her husband had cheated on her again.

He has become the general manager, had his own car.

A brown uniform hung in the hall closet.

Meternagel got to know him during that time.

After 1945, we were so fed up with adults.

We said, "Let them try telling us what to do!"

You were just learning to read back then.

In '45, my mother energetically seized control over the family.

And one day, a Party badge appeared in my father's lapel.

I burst out laughing.

Ever since, the very sight of me irritates him.

Nothing has been fun for me since then.

Only my job is good.

There's just enough precision required,

just enough...

imagination.

And you. You're good, too.

Just enough precision, just enough imagination?

Yes, brown-haired maiden,

exactly that.

Long may he live!

Long may he live!

Three cheers!

Here's to our 230%!

There's to our brigade leader's clever pencil!

That's nothing at all. Paris is nice, but...

A song.

3... 4...

The water roars down from the mountains

as though it were cool wine.

In the stream is a fish...

Songs you marched to stay with you for a long time, girl.

Happy is he who forgets What cannot be changed.

Even when there's no more use for them.

Hey production manager! Won't you toast my birthday?

To our brigade leader!

Long may he live!

Long may he live!

Three cheers!

All who work well should celebrate, too!

Or maybe someone begrudges us our celebration?

Well, then...

Pretty young for a production manager, huh?

I knew it!

Your beer tastes bad, bartender!

-Have you been waiting for me? -You could say so.

For long?

If I say I've been waiting a long time, who knows? You might

tarry every evening and stink of beer and smoke.

-Foreign beer and smoke, at that! -How can you prove that?

Good evening.

Evening.

Where do I know him from?

That's our new factory manager.

The old manager never returned from a business trip to Berlin.

West Berlin, you understand?

All hell's broken loose in the factory.

Black Maria with her brown eyes

Maria, let me be your Joseph. There's no one like you.

Black Maria. I love only one And that one is you.

Now it's purring.

What are you writing?

"CO Cl2 is separated into alphanitrose bethernnaphthol,

annealed at 800 degrees Celsius in a muffle kiln, during which

CO3 O4 is produced."

What are you really writing?

That your sweater-to-be will be a prettier shade of blue

in this fluid and not than in that one.

That's very fair of you.

So you think I should wear blue?

Absolutely.

Cobalt blue and no other.

And so it was again:

Life lay before them and was for them to decide.

Every,thing was possible, except losing each other;

that was impossible.

A visit brings it all back again.

The whistle of the factory locomotive,

when it left with the new railcars in the evening.

Where were they headed?

Siberia, Tayga, the Black Sea.

Every,where you wanted.

All new things were connected to memories.

What did that strange factory mean to her, back then?

A factory, like all the others - not particularly big or modern.

But we suddenly had the feeling

that every,thing at our factory, now depended on us.

Attention! This is the factory, radio speaking.

Colleagues, we now begin our break-time request concert.

No work.

No materials.

The old man saw it coming.

Guilt?

He stepped down in time.

I've known for a long time I was fighting a losing battle.

I have just succeeded in freeing my conscience from conflict

by making the only correct decision...

They can't blame me for everything now!

Who wouldn't have signed what the production manager said?

Don't get so upset, Ulrich. What can happen to you?

Where else would they get a sales manager

who knows a thing or two?

... my open-minded colleagues in the happier part of Germany!

One day you, too, will stand before the same decision as l.

Well, the new guy...

is a young man: new ideas, healthy ambition. And why not?

A great organizer.

It's just a pity a youngster like him doesn't get time here

to wear down his horns a little bit.

-What's really going on? -What's going on? The usual.

What must happen when nobody feels responsible: everyone

just rummages around in their corner, all the way to the top.

Then one day all the little messes become a great big mess.

Why are you staring at me?

Is there something about me to stare at?

All kinds of things. You should try staring at yourself.

Why don't you speak, Herr Meternagel?

Me?

Because I've got a "regressive cadre development."

Comrades!

Co-workers!

I will now read the lnspection Commission's report

concerning the factory's shortcomings.

I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.

After examining the situation as a whole...

It's all in here.

WORKPLACE STUDlES

If I've learned one thing in the last 1 2 years, it's how to wait.

Nothing's more stupid than to play the hero at the wrong moment.

Wendland over there? I know him.

He's going through the factory with a fine-tooth comb.

You can count on that.

And so he'll come to our section one day.

I'm waiting for that day.

... what we're missing:

Iocksmiths, joiners, welders.

It's no different anywhere else in the region.

Nobody will help us.

The only way out:

every man does his best.

... honestly.

Can't you go any faster, brand new Herr Doctor?

Faster!

You can perform magic, brown-haired maiden.

You'll make a happy man of me yet!

You have just the right hands for me.

How did I survive without you?

And here's the great lsabella Cannon,

a piece of Spanish booty from 1583.

And over here, my lords and ladies,

you can see West Germany.

Oh, yes!

"Oh, yes!"

Soon they'll write "a glimpse of West Germany" in the guidebooks.

The most attractive of this city's attractions.

I want a balloon!

Don't you want the pretty doll?

Big girls like you don't cry.

You see?

Everything balances out.

A balloon!

My aunt once refused to give another girl a balloon...

because of me.

Can you understand that?.

I could still cry when I think about it.

You're a white raven,

and what's better is you don't even know it.

And you know what I don't know.

Where do I know him from?

Come on, let's go.

Hello.

Hi.

We've seen each other before.

That's right.

-I even know from where. -Me too.

We had a club in school. It was harmless.

Then they wanted to become a political opposition center...

He got us out of that one.

You were in the in the city FDJ administration, right?

Right. Your teachers wanted to make an example of you.

That's why I was able to do some things for you.

Im still not sure it shouldnt have been dealt with politically too.

No doubt. At least based on the theory that anything a person

says, does, feels or thinks is political.

We're... a political generation.

My boy, my interpretation isn't so softhearted!

-Well? -A nice day...

Then forget your anger at Wendland.

You don't even know what happened.

But I know you. You look like you're wrong and

don't want to admit it.

So? Now you want to improve me?

-You never wanted such a wife. -Certainly not!

But what good are regrets?

Horse riding!

No.

Now, we're going home.

But you'll get to ride!

Well, what's the Meternagel Brigade doing these days?

Same as usual. They argue.

Meternagel's raising too much steam, right?

Not at all. He doesn't say anything.

-And that disappoints you? -Yes.

I understand him.

He senses mistrust.

He keeps running into this mistrust.

With the older guys, it's like a second skin.

an old layer of protection, I think.

They call him "Master" behind his back.

-Here's where we live. -Where I live, not you!

I'm divorced. My mother's raising him.

Did you know,

that I've never had such a wonderful day?

Or that I never imagined what wonderful days there'd be.

Precisely this second, someone is turning 20 years old.

Midnight!

Head over to section!

Overtime granted.

The accounts are balanced again.

You have a fast pencil, Brigade Leader!

Well? How'd Ermisch do it again?

When do we start?

Today.

Excellent! My little one needs a new hat.

Two hours overtime.

So everyone will work as much he can?

"Honestly," the production manager said.

Nonsense! If there's no other way, we're the last to say no.

Us.

And the first to pocket the money.

Our money, my friend, Or do you begrudge it us.?

"Our money?" You know that for certain?

Prove me wrong.

They spoiled proving things for you, right Master?

-Why's he doing it? -What?

Keeping quiet.

The Master? He's had enough talking.

You should have seen him rant about those 3,000 marks.

Did you all cheat him out of it?

Ask Ermisch!

It doesn't matter anyway. He's been removed and that's that.

Tell me, what's a "regressive cadre development?"

He acts as if nothing happened.

But it bothers him. He's not fooling me.

-Yes, but he should... -So everyone can say

he's crowing so he can be foreman again?

I've got a couple new ones.

Not all that exciting?

Brigitte Bardot, shot from above.

Hurry up! The foreman's looking at the clock.

The whole factory already knows Meternagel's clock.

Who's the brigade leader here - you or me?

You, of course.

But Meternagel wants more.

We're foot soldiers for him.

Nobody needs to know what he's got in mind.

We'll just think of ourselves, go along with everything

and one day he'll make it big again and we...

we'll be allowed to be convinced once more.

Am I right,

Comrade Meternagel?

The Ermisch group is starting their second shift.

You know that costs the firm twice as much.

Gee, Ernst!

-lf you don't need our overtime... -You guys need it.

How many frames do you finish per shift?

Eight.

And how many could you finish?

See you later, Herr Meternagel.

Fräulein Rita!

Give me the time. Exactly!

6 minutes to 7.

Come over here with that clock!

Time?

8 past 7:00.

1 4 minutes...

one frame.

Meternagel doesn't get to see that.

60 minutes is the norm for one frame.

You know that.

Why don't you change it, Herr Meternagel?

How long will you call me "Herr Meternagel?"

My name is Rolf; everyone's noticed that up until now.

Fourteen minutes, you say?

A fine fellow.

He wants to provoke me.

I'll give him that.

What do you think he's capable of?

He's got an itch under his skin;

but he always scratches the wrong spot.

I just can't get close to him!

-lf only he'd cooperate... -Hänschen says whoever

meddles with the norm will get their neck broken.

Now I'll open the book.

WASTED TlME, BY BRlGADE

- 117 hours. -Show it to the management.

I've got a page for them too.

-I'm interested in our hours. -I'm not.

D'you always have to go so too far?

-Something can still be done. -Sure.

"lf the cock crows early, the weather may change or not."

I hope you are right.

10 frames a shift.

Don't tell me it's impossible.

Lots of things are possible.

But fouling our own nest?

That's impossible for normal people.

What do you call "normal?"

I'll tell you what's normal.

Normal's what's good for us,

what makes us human.

Abnormal is what makes us crawl... and march,

which we've done long enough.

But you'll never understand that, you "lieutenant."

You made a mistake there, Rolf.

It's a mistake l'd gladly make again!

What does your Meternagel want?

To raise the norm, produce more.

That's nothing new in the world.

But you've got to approach your goal realistically

and not antagonize people.

You think a man like Kuhl could never change?

I'm no dreamer.

What are we working for?

1 0 WINDOWS lNSTEAD OF 8 PER SHlFT!

Are you pulling our leg?

I thought you're either in the Party or you're not.

D'you think I wouldn't do everything for the Party too?

THEY'RE CATCHlNG UP WlTH THE PLAN

1 0 lNSTEAD OF 8 WINDOWS PER SHlFT

15 YEARS OF RAlLCAR BUlLDlNG

To conclude the official part of this occasion,

our great national poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,

will be given the word. He said:

"Work in the day, guests in the evening,

Iong weeks, and joyful celebrations. "

He got that from one of his cards, huh?

Keynote speeches are hard.

People liked it.

They think it must be this way.

Young lady, you are the queen of the ball.

Do you know,

today we're dancing for the second time in our lives?

Really?

We're still able to count our pleasures, every single one.

You like that, right?

Yes, I like it.

I saw you dancing.

A nice evening,

after so much effort.

If you please.

Thank you.

Lots of responsibility being a manager, right?

Yes, but you get used to it.

Well, clearly! Like everything in history,

people get used to all kinds of things.

Are you sure?

Thank you.

They're arguing about history.

That's what you think. But let it be.

Look at Wendland - he's become a real man!

-Drink your coffee, you hear? -I'm drinking it, already.

How old are you really, Herr... I mean, Rolf.

Almost 50.

You can still visit the house where I was born.

Second courtyard, five boys.

You won't disagree that history is based on indifference.

Father fell in the war, mother washed laundry.

"There's no poverty where it's clean,"

the welfare lady said.

Since when did reason fill mankind with happiness?

It would've been more helpful to have

a pair of pants with no holes.

What were you really, back then? A skilled carpenter -

and you were proud of it.

Then the war lasted so long, until we were grown up...

For three years I chopped trees in Siberia, but only later

I noticed that had more to do with carpentry than shooting.

Dont we make too many demands on ourselves

based on historical happenstance?

So... "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

Well, maybe not hope, but our illusions.

The Spirit of God hovers above the masses.

Tell me, doctor:

did we invent the class struggle out of sheer malice?

They have the power. I understood that.

Then they gave me an empty instructor's seat.

That was the last peaceful minute of my life.

What didn't I mastermind, guide or direct?

And meanwhile, the young people were quietly learning

as much as they needed to take my place.

But that's not fair!

That bothers you?

They give you duties...

that are too difficult.

They even betray you.

A mistake is a mistake.

Otherwise where would we be?

You don't agree that the existence of life on Earth

-is a cosmic coincidence? -Not for me, you hear?

If I want to see a death-defying somersault, I go to the circus.

-Well, Rolf? -Hi, Ernst.

What are you wishing for now?

Always the same thing.

Only one skin, only one breath for us both.

I had a dream.

We're both sitting in a small boat

and swimming through the city streets.

It rains and rains.

The streets are empty of people, the water rises inexorably,

the houses, trees, churches are submerged in the flood.

Just the two of us...

still rock on the waves,

totally alone in a very frail boat.

What are you doing?

We are the lighthouse

and out there, on the sea, is our small boat.

If there are distress signals, we respond to the sign.

-Will it reach the harbor? -Of course!

And will it still find people in the sunken city?

Yes, the city never sank. The boat just drifted out too far.

So everyone in need will see our lighthouse?

Yes, each and every one,

if they want to.

And no one must perish alone.

No one.

Eight months later, the boat sank.

They stand on different shores.

Had no one responded to their signal

and noticed their distress?

She has been try,ing to forget for a long time.

Now she is afraid she could forget.

His face.

She has traced every, line in that face a hundred times.

It disappears, when she tries to capture it whole.

That summer was lost to her.

But back then, this time still lay ahead of us.

Maybe later one might call it

"a historic year."

Is something wrong, Sigrid?

... work is possible in and through society,

which means that its fruits belong to all members of the society.

You misquoted that just now.

Wrong? Do you really think so?

Let me look it up.

Really!

Just a mistake.

In my manuscript, it's correct.

If you'd like to convince yourself, Comrade Mangold,

please do so!

If you please, my lady, a window seat!

Do you love me?

Yes, rather.

Are they pestering you?

Is it too much for you to bear?

Well, what is it then?

They're all so clever there.

They already know everything. Nothing surprises them anymore.

That sounds familiar. It doesn't last for very long

once something happens.

Nothing will ever happen to them.

Something happens to everyone. You can count on it.

Take me, for example.

What's the matter?

Nothing in particular.

They don't want my method.

-But it... -But it's good.

Better than the old one.

Who says things must be produced by a better method

-in this country? -But you won't put up with that?

And they deny their constant repetition of the same.

Take Julien Sorel.

Supposed he only existed in a certain century,

maybe only in a certain decade.

Nonsense!

I'd feel fine in his skin

regardless of what revolution lies ahead of or behind us.

Characters last longer than systems of government.

Well, great!

By chance you're born in this particular time

and this particular place.

But it's absurd to make a kind of law out of that,

with moral dimensions wherever possible!

That's for the unimaginative!

-Then I'm terribly unimaginative. -You?

You're terribly modest.

For example, if Julien Sorel were around today...

Sorel?

I don't recall him being a chemist.

Out of the question for us.

May I introduce my assistant, Martin Jung?

State-approved optimist.

On the side, standard-bearer of our new method.

Gingerbread from my village.

Things'll get going tomorrow.

We'll go straight to the general manager. No messing around.

Yes, sir!

The most important thing is to be self-confident

They have to feel incredibly honored

that we're offering them the new method.

You understand?

But without banners, right?

I'll write down the slogan and put it in your pants pocket.

Which slogan?

"For the sake of justice!"

That's the cue for schnapps.

Manfred's lucky. First he discovers this method and then...

gingerbread.

Don't you have a girlfriend?

-Women chase after me. -That makes men arrogant.

Listen, Martin:

if he becomes rash tomorrow,

he'll easily become impolite.

Impolite? He's downright rude.

Doesn't know how to talk to people, gets arrogant.

But his invention is good.

You know,

he's also just not a hero.

A hero?

There are no jobs for heroes. They need chemists.

Wiill you reign him in a little?

You've brought me luck, brown-haired maiden.

She must be running late.

Already this afternoon, hardly any streetcars

were moving, due to the fog.

At least take a look at this.

They're for you, my son.

Who do we have to thank for them?

Your Aunt Agnes remembered us...

I thought you two were on bad terms.

Misunderstandings.

Sisters have to stick together in hard times.

Come. Add a little note to this.

Could I please speak with Herr Schwarzenbach?

Yes, of course.

Come in.

She really shouldn't keep you waiting so long.

Eventually you start to worry.

I'll fetch her.

Where were you?

At Schwarzenbach's.

Damp.

You'll catch cold.

He didn't at all say:

"Wait a while. You'll get used to it."

So what was it all about, then?

Schwarzenbach understood me immediately, when I told him:

"They alway tell us to learn from Mangold as well."

"l can't," I said,

and I don't want to, either.

Does everyone really have to become like him?

What's he like?

He acts like he knows everything better than everyone else.

He intimidates us.

God. Aren't you being a little over-sensitive?

It doesn't matter. We need sensitive people most of all.

These days, I can only advise thin-skinned people to get over it.

Mangold must've spent years learning citations by heart.

Every progress has its price;

our price is having to deal with guys like Mangold.

We have no right to be afraid of them.

We have no right to think they can't change for the better.

You also shouldn't over-dramatize.

A young man with overblown ideals leaps into life,

gets hit on the head 2 or 3 times;

so he pulls his head in,

rather pull the punches himself - and that's the end of Mangold.

No one speaks to me frankly anymore.

Even Sigrid's been avoiding me for a week.

What will happen next?

A bad situation.

But it would be worse to lose courage.

Believe me, Rita,

it's either them or us.

By "us," he meant me too.

There's nothing tougher than an opportunist.

The most dangerous ones are those who cling to us.

They appear to serve us,

but harm us even more.

Your Schwarzenbach is a Communist. But you're not.

Let him fight all he likes against whomever he likes.

But what does he expect of you?

I don't know.

He seemed to think I agreed with him.

Well, if you want my advice,

keep out of it.

I'd sure like to...

One morning, everything has changed.

The sober light of the present still blinds a little,

when you haven't yearned for the vague contours of the past.

Now you must exist in this light.

It's no longer necessary to be sick.

We tolerate all words once again.

You can even hear his name

as if someone were saying "house" or "moon."

Waiting wasn't the hardest.

But giving up waiting...

for a letter,

for a miracle...

Also this is past.

No one has been spared.

But we already knew that.

You can only fight misfortune when you look it in the eyes.

Now you know everything.

You should have talked to him.

With my father?

You don't know him.

I didn't go home...

for a night and a day.

Then the apartment was empty.

Now they're over there.

That's all well and good.

But science enters daily life faster elsewhere than here.

-West of the Elbe, for example? -For example.

When?

Two weeks ago.

And since then?

Since then, I've been calling in sick for my father at his job,

and telling the school my brothers have measles.

Since then, I think up new excuses day and night.

To our general manager!

To you, who softened him up.

How did it go again?

"No one can keep seeing a stone fall to the ground

"and hear someone say it's not."

Here's to the victory of reason.

You think they'll let me stay at the lnstitute if it comes out?

I mean, I stayed here!

What should I do?

There's only one thing to do.

What do these common people want from us?

Houses that work like well-oiled machines.

Cities that renew themselves.

Lives as long as in the Bible!

Automatically regulated childrearing.

That, too.

I'm going now.

Tell them everything as soon as possible.

I know.

Of course, telling everything is always good. Men like it.

If you'll sit down Miss Sigrid,

we can eat éclairs together.

What are those higher-ups telling you?

Rudimentary lectures: The general situation, ours in particular, etc.

Here.

This is how far we should be.

Well hurry up, my Lord Alchemist!

Man, how do you talk to your superiors?

Democratically.

And the lG Farben people don't make mistakes.

They broke them of the habit long ago. A fine-tuned apparatus,

spits out what clogs it up.

As far as I'm concerned:

better criticized than spat out.

It's not enough that I slave away with you;

now this guy's making things hard for me.

I'm leaving now.

Go to Schwarzenbach -

go tomorrow.

Give me time.

Three weeks of silence?

I knew about it.

Well, that's a fine conspiracy.

A worker leaves his state; his daughter lies to this state,

and her friend helps her.

-That will be discussed. -Right. That must be discussed.

So, discuss it then! Discuss it right now!

You have to prepare for things like that.

They'll throw us out.

I knew it.

I've got to go.

Everything's on the line now. Afactory concern has been charged

with reviewing our chemical method.

We have to be there, or it'll go wrong.

For how long?

A couple of days,

and then we'll throw a party.

... we must start from the beginning. We must demand...

At last, a reasonable person!

Come in and tell them they shouldn't yell like that!

Ask? Request? Next you'll write "most humble"...

-We demand! -Come in.

Now, what do you think: Should we 'ask' or 'demand'?

What and to whom?

To the factory management, about the assembly line.

they're always postponing.

Demand.

You see? The money for your studies wasn't wasted!

Is anything wrong?

Oh, it's you.

Our boy is having an operation today.

Appendicitis.

He was home alone yesterday afternoon.

We had things to do.

I'll never forgive myself.

Oh, you're going away?

-Vacation? -No.

Then you're doing the right thing,

getting a proper rest.

You think I haven't noticed how bad you look sometimes?

Give your mother my regards.

She'll nurse you back to health.

Anyway, my dear girl,

we always return to our mothers.

Shall I give Manfred a message?

No.

It's not necessary.

Yes.

I was afraid for you.

Hey, you. Say something!

I can't.

You're not alone?

No.

OK. Let me talk. I know exactly what face you're making.

Me too.

Do you always have those wrinkles when you're angry?

Yes, but I'm not angry.

-Every,thing's going well here. -Here, too.

So I was wrong.

Yes, you were wrong.

-Promise? -Promise.

-You're not fooling me? -I wouldn't dare.

-I'll come back soon. -Yes, come.

I'll summarize:

severe punishment for Sigrid and Rita,

because they abused our trust.

We are also of the opinion that Sigrid,

with her silence about her parents' flight,

does not possess the moral qualities of a future teacher.

We therefore request her expulsion from the lnstitute.

For whom are you speaking?

For the comrades.

A decision has been made.

A decision, in which it is settled that...

A decision?

What does it say about the causes for Sigrid's behavior?

Why didn't she trust us?

Why?

She doesn't understand the Party line, that's why!

What do you mean by the Party line, comrade Mangold?

Not avoiding conflict! Naming names! Exposing its roots!

That's the Party way!

Better to ensure Sigrid knows the Party's there for her!

Whatever happens to her.

For whom else,

-if not for her? -That's politically naive!

A few kilometers away, world imperialism waits to strike the

final blow, and what do we do?

How old were you at the end of the war?

Eighteen.

Did you know...

that l, a worker's son,

wanted to join the Nazi 'Werewolf' defense or kill myself if we lost?

Back then, we expected and had earned the world's hatred.

But the Party was indulgent and patient with us.

Since then, I've possessed some of those qualities,

revolutionary qualities, comrade Mangold.

Did you never rely on them?

It must not have been easy for Mangold.

Maybe he had too many bad experiences,

so he can't believe in people anymore.

Look over here. Does this go with the suit?

And you? You believe in people?

I had a friend years ago,

my only one besides Martin.

We hung out night after night and talked about everything.

I really don't know if I can go in this suit.

Put the other one on.

The gray one? Please!

You have to wear black at the boss' receptions.

Keep it on, then.

He became a journalist.

I met him 2 years later at a big college conference.

I gave a speech on poor teaching methods,

about hypocrisy that gets rewarded with good grades.

You said that?

I, too, once had some crazy ideas.

That time, they tore into me.

How dangerous and perverted my views were!

I kept looking at my friend.

He knew me.

He knew exactly what I meant.

He didn't look at me once.

He was the first one to leave the room.

Sometimes I think...

for you, I should be a few years older.

Your husband's still like that, right my lady?

Yes.

Yes, you're right, of course!

You have to outright force him to concede the

intellectual primacy of a new idea!

I capitulate.

Idolatry.

Why did you come?

He's a great chemist. That doesn't mean he's a great man.

We're all sinners, anyway.

I hear you're getting your process approved, Dr. Herrfurth.

-It's almost certain, Professor. -Congratulations.

You've earned it.

"No one should call himself happy before he's dead and buried,"

- say the Latin scholars.

You're too cynical, Dr. Seifert.

Now, Herr Schwabe,

how do you feel in our circle?

We recognize no authority but science.

I am very happy to be working with Herr Schwabe.

There are so many delicate problems in the protectorate

which he solves - I must admit - intuitively.

Well, that's science:

"You shall have no gods other than me."

That's why the state depends on its scientists.

Every state.

Certainly, Herr Doctor.

That's why the state also supports them.

Come, let's have a drink. Then we'll be able to put up with them.

"Keep smiling," Master.

-We've been rejected. -Rejected? What does that mean?

That means there are people in the concern who want to advance

their own chemical process, and we're in their way.

So?

I knew it. So, now the battle's on.

We must prove yours is better!

Oh, must we?

Must l?

I don't have to do anything at all anymore.

He needs a good shaking.

Nowadays in Germany, everything is pursued twofold.

Even in chemistry, such that...

should certain circumstances force a scientist to swap states,

he gives up neither his language, nor his people.

He pledges his German name to a different German concern.

He switches companies.

Quite legitimate.

What circumstances do you have in mind, Herr Doctor?

Well,

privileges granted too late.

We sons of science rely on such things.

Retirement benefits, for example.

Thinking of dying, Doctor?

Will we survive all this?

Now must time stand still.

Germany was always a leader in chemistry;

we can't gamble with something like that.

But which Germany will continue the tradition?

The East?

The West?

That depends on realities, and...

our brains are such a reality.

-lsn't that so, Herrfurth? -Certainly.

No. No, you're mistaken.

But some people use the mistakes of a revolution

as an excuse for their own laziness or cowardice.

Revolution.

Revolution in Germany?

A contradiction in and of itself. Isn't it?

You can live quite well on this contradiction.

... I've never fallen for anyone like you...

This is Radio Free Germany 904 with an important announcement.

Attention! Attention! We're calling Alligator.

Land is in sight.

You return,

without coming home.

She still feels the pain.

Can you cope with every,thing?

Dear Rita,

I debated whether to write to you -

and thereby increase your sorrow and bitterness.

But if I know you, you'll be happy, despite every,thing,

that our chemical process will now be put to use.

A Party commission is in the factory, right now and

has expressed an interest in it.

Manfred wrote me from West Berlin...

An attempt at a justification.

Everyone who left tried to explain this step to us.

They all felt they had left something irreplaceable behind.

A few people -

maybe a boyfriend,

a woman.

Remaining steadfast for 8 months -

for some, that was too long.

There, right before our eyes,

a person could gradually fade away.

Land is in sight. End of message.

The I nstitute's firing Martin.

Why?

He got wild, screams at everyone in the factory,

-calls them "saboteurs." -He did that for you.

I was at Schwabe's.

How he looked at me when l said Martin was my friend!

"Your friend, eh?"

"He showed a surprising immaturity!

"We'll have to remove him from the lnstitute."

I talk and talk until I'm sick.

But he doesn't hear what you say to him.

What will Martin do now?

He's gone crazy.

He's returning to the factory that did him in. If I were him...

Yes? You?

I'm sick of all this.

The sediment of history...

is always the misfortune of the individual.

Whatever happens, we'll still love each other, you hear?

Can't I talk to you anymore?

Have I become unbearable?

You like to talk at someone.

Give me a kiss.

Imagine if we weren't just on a test run,

but on a real trip. Just the two of us

headed to Siberia, to the Caucasus.

Come. I'll show you the car.

One, two, three, four...

Gustav, Anton. Brake test in 4 minutes.

Do you like our railcar?

It's good.

One more stone on the long road to socialism.

What are you getting at?

At a detail: the fact of historical delay

which we as Germans should know.

Ruined for us by individualism and civilization,

there is no road back

to the simple advantages of the new society.

Many mistakes in too small of space?

He doesn't mean it that way.

Sure!

That's how he means it.

Don't you see - what you need is unbroken heroes?

What he finds is a broken generation.

Every,thing ready for the brake test.

A tragic contradiction.

Your resignation lacks anger,

my modern-day Faust.

Between Faust... and us...

Iie the centuries.

That's what I'm saying.

Braking distance too long.

Hey! Did you hear?

The Russians put a man in space!

"l see the clouds and their light shadows

on the distant, yet-beloved planet Earth.

And for one moment, the farmer's son awoke in me:

the perfectly black skies looked like a freshly plowed field

and the stars were the seed corn."

Every,thing that happened began to make sense.

A farmer's son plows the heavens

and scatters the stars as seed corn over them.

Will our little bit of human warmth be able

to withstand the coldness of the cosmos?

I know what's coming now.

A big propaganda campaign.

But it doesn't make anything any easier for us,

with extravagances in the stratosphere.

The Sixties: mankind's deep sigh of relief.

My God, does everyone have to take the petty accident of life

emerging on our planet so seriously?

Has your father settled into his new responsibilities?

What are we talking about?

Didn't he tell you? For 4 weeks he's been the head bookkeeper.

You mean he was demoted?

-I think he likes it better now. -I see.

The same old story: the Moor has done his duty, the Moor can...!

Let me ask you something.

What use do you see in today's excessive, broad-based mistrust

which is called "vigilance?"

You're mixing up different things.

Ah, I'm mixing things up. At least,

I've still got a feel for the potency of certain contradictions';

the difference between means and ends, for example.

Yes,

it's hard to make the two compatible.

Why not say it's impossible? Honesty suits every man.

And would suit you too.

Yes, I'll try.

It seems to me that I'm being misunderstood here.

I just feel sorry about all the energy and vision that are

being wasted on impossible things.

Why do you need to cover your back like this?

Cover my back?

I'm speaking from experience with humanity.

Yes: greed, selfishness, mistrust, envy -

you can always count on them.

But humaneness?

Even dirt gets carried only as long it's useful.

Well, I'm not responsible for the great sentiments.

Anyway, gentlemen, unmask those lofty phrases,

the great sentiments.

Unmask them!

What's wrong?

I'm looking...

for the fixed point everyone needs...

to not lose themselves completely.

Here, with me?

Where else?

You weren't sure about me anymore?

Yes I was, brown-haired maiden.

Let me always be sure.

Yes?

As sure as you want.

My dearest!

My son has finally listened to reason.

Gone away.

Not returned - there's a difference.

After all, the professor himself sent him to this conference.

He also thought of you.

Until you can't follow him, you can stay with us, of course.

We can get packed in less than two hours,

and then leave.

Leave? Where to?

My God! He doesn't know!

Parents belong with their children.

Who there'd want to deal such old personnel?

My drops.

Quickly!

YOU HAVE TO COME!

I ONLY LlVE FOR THE DAY WHEN YOU'RE WlTH ME AGAlN!

- MANFRED

Bye, Rita!

So long!

Hello, Rita!

Just the nick of time! I've just been raked over the coals.

But why? Everything's going well.

The West cancelled their metal shipments.

And they're criticizing you for that?

Ha! Should we criticize Krupp?

People are saying there's going to be war.

And what do you think?

I'm afraid sometimes.

People say if we geth through August and part of September,

there will be no war.

I see.

People have experience with the beginnings of war.

I often say too little - even back then,

when I spoke with him, with Manfred.

You always think there'll be

time to get things cleared up.

Then suddenly, there's no more time.

With you, I'd be sorry if I'd said too little, or not the right thing.

You know you can count on me.

Please.

-Thank you. -Do you smoke?

-Thank you very much. -You're welcome.

The Medusa's head of the times. Everyone has problems -

plastic bombs for some, that toothpaste smile for others...

if we are to believe the magazines.

But those are very different problems, right?

Certainly,

as you please.

Are you going to visit someone in Berlin?

My fiancée.

Please have your identity card ready to be checked.

I hope your fiancée lives in Pankow or Schöneweide.

Why?

They could ask you about it.

Yes, in Pankow.

He lives in Pankow.

Twenty.

And if you want to come back?

Then forty.

Rita.

You've changed.

Limbo.

Look around!

The Free World is at your feet.

I'd always asked myself the meaning of our being in the world.

With him, my question disappeared as though it were answered.

Didn't you ever think of following him?

I did follow him.

And?

I yearned.

I remember that Sunday was hot.

I barely noticed it back then.

The streets were like heat chambers.

By the way,

houses everywhere look alike.

More cellophane and glass on the shopping boulevards, of course.

I could picture precisely how much I'd like shopping in such stores.

But in the end, everything revolves around eating and drinking,

on getting dressed and sleeping.

Why did they eat?

Where were they going in those huge cars?

And what did people in this city think about before bed?

No, tell things in order. That's only what you now think.

Were you ever there?

Yes, years ago.

Then you know how it is.

You like a lot of things, but...

they don't really make you happy.

You're alone in a terrible way,

worse than being abroad because you hear your own language.

Of course, you're still wearing 'political' spectacles.

I know from experience it's hard to get rid of them.

But everything's different in West Germany.

Wendland said: "I'd forgive some people, but not him.

"He knew what he was doing."

Wendland?

I want to tell you something.

Here, I know what to expect.

Here I am prepared for everything possible.

Over there...

well, I feel sorry for your Wendland.

Why are you so angry, then?

We're having a tough time right now.

Who's 'we'?

Everybody. The pressure's increasing.

We've even noticed it at the factory.

Well, that's all behind me now,

those senseless difficulties.

I'm getting a job where other people are specially paid

to get rid of difficulties.

I always wanted that.

You were the one who always told us, "We just need more time."

One day, I understood what you meant.

I saw what became of Herbert Kuhl.

Meternagel demanded once more that we produce more.

Everyone was reluctant.

But one night Kuhl built 1 4 frames.

Doesn't it suit you that a guy like me was the first one?

You're a blockhead. But I'd like to know why you're doing it.

Yes, I bet you would.

Even though the others do fewer, they're heroes.

I'm the only one you'd ask "why do you do it?"

Why only me?

Because I was a lieutenant?

Yes, sir! I was, and with all my heart.

I never did anything halfway.

You can make a swine out of any man!

Hey, snap out of it.

For 1 0 years, you've wanted to prove you're a swine.

Now you've just proved yourself wrong.

The Party Secretary said to Meternagel:

"Stop your exaggerating!

"You're driving my people to the West."

For God's sake, not so loud!

Do you remember how horrified we were sometimes

about the habits of adults?

Today, I'm afraid I too could get used to the worst.

And you, as well.

What kind of things?

Speaking differently from how you think.

Working less than you can.

That there are already more than enough bombs

to blow the entire planet sky high.

That a person, who belongs to you, can always be driven away,

and only a letter remains.

Rita.

Girl! You think it was easy for me?

It was too much for you. You're mixing everything up:

your factory, the bomb, and me.

A city without a hinterland.

It's grim, I tell you.

You're blaming me for that?

I'm sorry.

I'm already crazy myself;

Iet's stop blaming each other like two hostile politicians.

I love you and no other - forever.

And I know what I'm saying.

Nobody else has ever heard those words from me.

Is it too much to ask for you to come with me?

Close your eyes. Listen to a few names:

Lake Constance. Rhine.

Black Forest.

Isn't that Germany too?

You can't figure out this city.

These people even pity us.

They think that every,one must see

who's rich and poor in this country.

A year ago, I would've joined him.

Every,where.

Today?

Sometimes I ask myself:

Can the world be measured by our standards at all?

By "good" or "evil?"

Or is it simply there - and nothing more?

But then it would've been pointless

for me not to stay with him.

You know why l wanted to talk to you today?

I wanted to know if it's important to always speak the truth,

under all circumstances.

And you want to hear this from me?

I heard it from you.

What?

You know, sometimes everything comes at once.

I was told that too much confidence ruins people.

There's something to that.

I became uncertain myself.

But how greedy for honesty people are! For the first time,

we're becoming mature enough to look truth in the eye -

not turning difficult into easy, dark into light,

not abusing people's trust.

That's the most precious thing we've earned.

Heal, kitten, heal!

The cat has four legs.

Four legs and a long tail.

Tomorrow he'll be healthy again.

I want to follow you...

over land and sea,

through ice and iron,

through the enemy ranks.

Isn't that how it goes?

What did they know...

when they wrote such songs?

Lovers parting ways used to look for a star

where their gazes could meet at night.

What should we look for?

At least they can't divide the heavens.

Oh no, the heavens are the first to be divided.

Goodbye...

brown-haired maiden.

So ends the story,.

A banal story,, if you like.

If this only happens once in a lifetime, now it's behind her.

It will never again be as it once was.

You are, if you forgive my frankness - a remarkable person.

To be honest, that you came back then still puzzles me to this day.

Love was more romantic in my day.

Why did my son hate me?

He doesn't hate you anymore.

Really, he doesn't.

Martin Jung is back at the lnstitute.

Some would give a lot these days to take back certain harsh words.

You see how much depends on coincidence right now.

And Rolf Meternagel?

Did you, for instance, remove the "coincidence"

that cost him his job back then?

Come on! He's the foreman again.

And the 3,000 marks? A trifle.

My husband is sick.

I'll see if I can find someplace else.

Come on, now - you think he'd let you leave?

He's not like other people.

Other people buy a TV set and a refrigerator,

and a washing machine for their wives.

You know what he does with his money? He saves it.

He thinks I don't know what for,

but I do know.

He wants to give back - don't worry, I'll take it -

the 3,000 marks he overpaid back then.

He's crazy.

He's really crazy.

Does the factory really need 3,000 marks?

I need them.

You can't imagine what your husband accomplishes.

I know. That's why he has to be exactly the way he is.

Who said you should take over being sick from me?

Sit down, girl.

Well!

It's caught up to me now.

Heart, nerves,

circulatory problems, and the Devil knows what else.

I'm going to a spa,

so they can patch me up.

And who will take your place?

If only we knew what to prepare ourselves for.

There was once a time...

when I thought nothing could happen to me.

Nothing would ever knock me over so fast.

Keep thinking that. Nothing will knock you down.

Maybe now you will realize that the fate of the coming generations

depends on the strength of countless people

in every single moment.

Sometimes we will get tired,

sometimes angry, and wicked.

But we are not afraid.

What makes up for every,thing is that we can sleep soundly,

that we can live life to the fullest,

as if this strange substance - Life - abounded

and would never run dry.