Original subtitles

Do you think you're better than the others?

Your hands! Show me your lovely white hands!

No! No!

Stop! Stop! Stop!

No! No! No!

Your father nearly fooled me. That was his doing.

- Come with me now or we're through! - I can't. Let me try one last time.

I'll calm him down, then I'll come.

I'll see you when it's all over. He tried to kill me.

Good evening. It's a family party.

The folks are a bit overexcited.

What quirk of fate brought me to this?

It can't be a stranger.

It mustn't be for no reason.

It would be fraud.

It mustn't be true.

"Around me, the angels lose their wings."

"They're carrying me as they do the sick,"

"carrying me to heaven."

"And then I return to this same spot in one or two years,"

"to confuse places and times,"

"and to confuse you and me."

What are you doing?

Keeping the mail secret.

- Why don't you send these? - They won't arrive today.

Nor on any today.

Miss Jellinek typed them, right?

Malina...

Animal...

Melanie, animus, anima...

Ivan, naive.

Here and now.

What's here is useful. Reassuring.

- Proves I exist. - You need this to know you exist?

You should talk, Malina.

If I say the magnolias are in bloom,

you tell me to buy a new typewriter ribbon.

Stop it.

It's as if you've always been there, even before I knew you,

a presence by my side.

A place only for you, which means no place for me.

Writing makes me bitterly aware of it.

In your next interview, say you don't exist.

It'll cut our expenses.

At least I didn't meet you too soon.

I kept you from banging into the hot stove, drowning in your tub

and losing things all the time.

Thanks, Malina.

- I am you. - You are me.

Come on, we'll be late.

Why are you looking at yourself like that?

I've always hated D'Annunzio's remark

that all a woman wants is to be lovely to a man.

- Women hear worse. - The mirror makes me exist.

I say you exist, even if you exist just once.

As if I didn't exist at all!

As if I always needed reassurance that I do,

even if it's just from a mirror.

Why are you so pale? Get out more.

You never wear your striped dress. Because I gave it to you?

- Hello. - Hello, madam.

- I would like some flowers. - What kind?

Yes? Have we met?

First I must go to the post office.

Money orders? Stamps? Packages?

Bathing suits? Savings account? Sorry, our paths diverge here.

What are you doing?

Get in line like everybody else!

Some nerve, the youth of today!

You could cure me. Let me explain.

No need to explain.

Not at all.

Explain what?

It's nobody's business.

- Don't explain anything. - I'm happy.

That's a virus everyone should catch.

An epidemic would cure the world's ills.

What do you mean? What virus?

A virus that isn't a sickness.

What is it, then?

I don't know.

I used to be desperate. Now I feel alive again.

Dressing already?

I warned you.

I have to show some people around town tonight.

Thank you.

No. I can't find the last page, but...

I'll reconstruct the conclusion from memory.

In trying to explain Wittgenstein's silence on aesthetics.

I've talked an hour about something he's said you can't talk about.

Speaking about the limits of language means transgressing them.

But if all attempts to define these limits are a transgression...

it'd be a violation...

No words can be wholly justified.

To conclude, how does one distinguish

an "essential word" from what Heidegger calls "chitchat",

when there is no authority in language to justify it?

I would venture to say:

Knowledge... and the admission of its arbitrariness. Thank you.

We reserved a table. Do you want to go with your friend or in my car?

- We've never met! - Come with me.

Madam, you said...

I was at your sister's funeral.

I was considered an up-and-coming genius.

- That didn't last. - So I read.

A famous actress's brother has to be a genius.

My apocryphal writings are where they belong: buried.

Say you'll look for me in the closet. I won't be there.

Hello?

It's you?

Right now?

Yes.

No, she's leaving anyway.

Immediately, I tell you!

Since she found a man, she's always leaving.

Come, of course.

Just tea and whisky. Okay.

Type this up and send the letters to Mr. Richter.

- There're no letters to type. - Then write some!

- I can't do it Monday. - Yes, but I have to leave now.

I'm getting married on Monday.

Did you write this?

Certainly not. You know I only write pulp.

And a few things about doctors.

It's your handwriting.

What does this mean?

"Types of Death", "Three Killers"?

"The Third Man"? Did you write this?

Must be Miss Jellinek. She dabbles in poetry.

"The Shadows of Egypt"? You are okay otherwise?

Who's going to read these books?

- Why write such books? - The others have been written.

Do you think humanity has no problems right now?

You forgot the butter. So I suffer because humanity starves?

Try to concentrate a bit.

Your strip act won't help.

You must make me attack you. Understand?

I'm in enemy territory and you must attack me.

You can't play that way.

- I always know in advance I'll win. - This time it was almost a draw.

Never! What's wrong?

I don't want to hurt you. No one does.

- Why are you always scared? - I don't know.

- Did your father beat you growing up? - No, never.

How about this one?

How do you wear this?

This is how people should see us.

We only look like this once in our lives.

It can't be this way.

Malina would say, "Call in reinforcements."

Now look at me!

I saw you on TV, madam.

- Can I... have your... autograph? - Of course, but...

Sorry, I was called away for a moment.

Ernest, what are you doing here? Sorry.

Go downstairs now! Hurry up! Sorry. I'll fix that up.

- It's ruined, so I must buy it. - No, not at all, madam.

- A few stitches and it'll be fine. - Just a few stitches!

- Why are you laughing? - A guy called Lajos called you. Urgent.

- Where do you always vanish to? - Jealous?

You must have understood. I love no one, except the children.

I've earned an ice cream.

Bring cigarettes, too. We'll smoke them together.

It'll be too late for ice cream.

You'll get that next time.

I have to go back, it's late.

- Did I tell you about my disputation? - I'm sure it was a drama.

Just the opposite. When I arrived, I saw embers on the floor.

I got a pan and shovel. Not a soul around.

The smoke and embers were awful.

I smelled like them for days, my shoes were ruined.

But nothing happened.

So you saved Vienna's Institute of Philosophy. What about you?

I didn't go up in smoke, alas. I stayed.

- What did you say? - Nothing.

- Go ahead. - Later.

- What'll you do later? - I'll never tell you.

- What did you say? - I hate to yell like this!

"Dear Mr. Schönthal..."

"Hastily..."

"and full of anxiety..."

"For years,"

"I've been incapable,"

"sometimes for weeks on end..."

"The woman you thought you knew"

"doesn't exist!"

It's as if I were dead.

Nothing special. Letters.

I'm going right to bed. I'm exhausted. I'll sleep as long as I want.

You go to bed early too, for once.

Yes. I was awfully tired.

Dead tired.

No, I'm not in bed yet. I'm just tired.

That's all, weary. You must be even more tired.

Now?

- You said to come at once, right? - That's what I said. If not now, when?

- 15 minutes more. - You said something before...

- I have to take a piss. - Something that made me feel safe.

But one line can't give security to someone who's lost everything.

What a catastrophe!

- I don't know why I'm crying. - Cry your heart out.

It'll do you good!

I assure you, I'll get over it.

But a week without you...

It's never lasted a week.

You don't notice.

Crying so soon.

Maybe you're right to cry in advance.

Maybe later there won't be anything to cry about.

A week without you is a week without reality.

You can't imagine what it's like.

Cry!

Go ahead, cry!

58 cigarettes, 59 cigarettes, 60 cigarettes.

- I'm off to bed. - Really?

A woman who always lived alone, who always worked,

suddenly becomes completely dependent on someone else?

- Go to bed. - No, I must tell you today.

How can a simple phone call for one be a disaster for another?

Don't tell me anything. Nothing!

You look tired.

- Should I turn off the lights? - No, leave one on, please.

I'll turn them all off, for once. That'll do you good.

Go to sleep. Be happy.

I am happy.

Because if you're not happy...

Then?

Then...

You'll never write or do anything... good!

Malina! Malina...

Do I still deserve anything?

You can get anything from me, except what I don't have.

I can't give you that.

Now what?

How long will you put up with this?

You're asking too soon. For now, that's not the problem.

Soon, perhaps... Some day.

I want you to come at once. I want you to come at once.

I want you to come at once. I want you to come at once.

Why stare at me as if you'd seen a ghost?

Ordinary things can cause an explosion at any moment.

I hope this calamity spared your car.

Lend it to me for tonight? Mine's in the repair shop.

I really need a car.

It's Bela's hand: burned or sprained or something.

Sure, I'll give you the keys.

Here!

Thank you.

I want you to come at once.

"When you know something, keep it quiet!"

I was in bed.

I'm dead tired.

How's Bela?

His hand isn't sprained, broken or cut. Just a minor burn.

Mother exaggerated, as usual.

Now...

I'd like to be sick.

That light's no good for working.

Bad for the eyes.

Sorry, but I'm in a hurry. I'm not Christ, I can't save you.

You look like him.

Ivan!

If you can't save me, shield me from the fire.

I bet Malina's thought of that already.

"Dear Mr. Schönthal, for years I've been unable to open my door,"

"answer the phone or call for weeks on end."

"I can't do it, and I don't know how to overcome it."

The letter to Mr. Schönthal must go out at once.

The request is already a year old.

This letter won't do at all.

I don't really know this man.

It's a Graeft & Stift, 4-door sedan, 4 cylinders, 115 mm bore,

motor number 287,

42 H.P.

You hear it?

Malina.

The only feminine element in your museum

is the horse's rumps in the battle scenes.

The rear was damaged by shrapnel in WWI.

You can see the damage.

You don't believe me, and you're right. But someday...

I may start...

So start.

...devoting myself to you, to what you think and feel.

Let it rest, stir, beat, knead, whip, whip...

Follow these recipes faithfully and you end up in a hospital.

You... show it when something's wrong.

Just now everything's fine.

Why not say you want to come back to my place.

Stop it, Ivan!

I'm letting you play your little game.

I'm not playing now. I stopped playing long ago.

That's just it. Without the play, it all goes wrong.

"I'll die, but my death will avenge me."

"I won't die alone, someone will follow me."

I don't understand why you're talking about the Jubilee ceremonies.

A glorious era before I was born. I've really no opinion on it.

Not that I have any at all. But...

You know what they say:

History teaches lessons, but has no students.

What was I saying? Ah, yes. I'll try to be clearer.

To be clearer, to stick to the facts...

Justice... is... a pious wish, a hope for the inaccessible.

When it touches us too closely, we call it injustice.

The real culprits are still alive anyway...

The fire at the courthouse... that permanent fire... the fire...

There's fire every day...

Erasing the tape? Why? Erasing everything?

But... What was I saying? I read a lot. I read a lot.

But I see the horror, the shocks elsewhere...

Words on a sign, names on a poster, book titles,

a name in the phonebook, graffiti...

I don't know, an epitaph in Slovenian on a gravestone.

An inscription somewhere, a sentence on a page...

Sometimes these fragments insist on being heard.

"With my burned hand I write of fire."

Language is punishment: all things are in it,

in keeping with the measure of their guilt.

And all things must vanish in it. Everything vanishes!

In this most deceptive place,

our century has ignited a few minds,

burning them so that they might function.

They were burned! Gone up the chimney!

Bela should have taken you back long ago.

You were at home yesterday. I saw the light in your window.

I wanted to say... Why didn't you call me? I was busy, too.

Always justifying yourself!

You ought to attack me. Go on, attack!

I do, all the time. You don't notice it.

Show me your hand.

Not like that, the back.

You can see a woman's age in her hands.

I spot it at once.

Never misses, with women.

There: those brown spots...

No... Leave me alone!

Leave me alone.

I must warn you about me.

I just saved you from choking,

and you're warning me?

Watch out. I'm not who you think I am.

You don't realize I'm double.

Double!

I'm Malina's creature, too. You don't see that.

He didn't teach you much. Your Malina.

Understand?

I'm also Malina,

and Malina is me.

You're a handsome man, Malina.

I'll simply write: "You leave me no other choice than to defend my skin."

"I'll skip the description of it, as you knew it well."

Just sign it:

"A stranger."

Mail to you is like a grenade with the pin out.

- What did you want? - Ah, yes.

Restrain your charitable impulses.

If you don't, no hairdresser for one year.

Looking for someone, madam?

A Bulgarian gentleman from Israel reading the Express.

There are 20 gentlemen reading the Express, madam.

I told him I'm the blond in the blue coat.

Now I'm stuck with this coat...

Excuse me, madam?

I hope he doesn't need millions...

- You're the man? - You've come, how wonderful!

- So you met my friends in Israel? - I don't know your friends.

I wasn't in Israel. I'm Bulgarian.

I got your name out of the phonebook.

You're my only hope.

- You're from Sofia? - I've brought you something.

- Read this now? - Everything, right away.

- I'll read it at home. - Read everything now!

Please read it! Right now!

- Well? - Look, I can't read it all now!

Listen, please...

I need money to pay for my trip to Itzehoe.

Where? You have to go to Itzehoe?

They want to amputate my feet there.

What? You have to have both legs amputated?

And you have no money?

- Please! - Right away.

Do you have change?

Thanks.

Thanks.

Thank God, you're in! You must help! A foreigner's coming.

Give him a first class ticket to Itzehoe. No, one way.

And 2000 schillings in cash.

I must go. Do you have a pen?

- Give this to that man when I'm gone. - Right away, madam.

Not right away! After I've gone!

- I have to answer this? - Take it back to the post office.

These cats have to go.

They'll be gone by the end of the month.

You said that last month!

I don't like these animals.

These cats belong to two children.

Thanks for feeding them yesterday. You think of everything.

Madam? Should we move everything today?

Why now, Lina?

You've wanted to all year. Why not today?

We've waited this long, what's another week?

- We'll get some men to do it. - Men, madam?

We don't need men to move these few pieces!

Don't look at me! I'm no man!

I have an idea!

We'll find two men, give them a beer and a tip!

Give me the tip, madam. We'll do it ourselves.

It's for me.

It's for me.

- It's for me! - Who do you think you are?

What are you doing?

No! Leave it! I have to wait to get into my home.

Shall I call someone to get you?

But I must wait here

to get into 9 Ungargasse.

I have to wait to get into...

9 Ungargasse...

No...

I have to wait here.

Because...

Don't you understand?

This is Andras and that's Bela. My sole heirs!

Hi, Granny!

Quiet now children, no talking. Let's go!

Did the dentist hurt you?

My tooth hurt, but he pulled it!

- And I... I... - You only had two little cavities!

I don't believe you. Show me!

I had a wisdom tooth pulled. I have them, you don't!

Liar!

I despise you,

son of a caliph's dog!

I, Cashmir the Magician, will depose you!

You, my son Mizrah,

will be the new Caliph of Baghdad!

This magic powder will serve me well!

Abracadabra!

So the enchanted creatures pressed on.

They knew not how to end the torment, imprisoned in stork's bodies.

Neither could they go back to town.

Who'd believe their story? A stork who claimed to be Caliph!

So they flew towards Medina,

where they saw, down in the valley,

a ruin where they came to rest for the night.

The Caliph opened the door with his beak

and stopped in surprise.

Welcome, storks!

My father is the King of India.

I'm his wretched only daughter. My name is Lusa.

Cashmir the magician cast a spell on me!

One day he asked for my hand in marriage for his son Mizrah.

My father threw him out.

His revenge was this spell. He dragged me here.

He said to me angrily, "Here you shall remain,"

"despised by all till the end of your days, or until someone comes"

"and takes you as his wife in spite of how you look!"

I know how to break his spell.

If one among you

marries me,

I will help him

to find the magic charm.

Who has a love

That he can share with the world?

- Be patient. You know well. - I know we'll meet again.

Where? When?

In a town,

where there'll be a street.

I'll lose my eyes. It's Sunday in the mirror.

"Take the star from my eye ere it sparkles."

"Pluck the grass from my brow ere it withers."

"Slam the door to the clouds ere I fall."

- Trounced again! - You play by remote control.

You attack what is mine and neglect the rest.

Trounced!

You sneak past my door, even when you're alone here.

Even when I'm alone here.

I know, "as though there were no doors".

You'd rather I was suspicious?

Take the initiative. Stop me from saying stupid things.

No, that's not my role.

- What did you want? - Nothing.

- It's getting easier to be apart. - I hadn't noticed.

Now I can spend hours without thinking of you.

One day the earth will cave in beneath you.

You're always crying wolf.

Watch. When I let go, parting's easy!

- I can leave you. - But you come back quickly!

Five second less than last time.

But you should stop drinking. You promised.

No!

You caught me off guard! I was almost immortal!

- Wear your striped dress. - I would die.

Only if you smoke while changing!

I just got in. A little walk. Nothing special.

Calling from your place? No?

I'll call you back. Okay, I'll call you tomorrow.

"Hanging up's like opening a dam! How can I keep my head above water?"

"Some day..."

What are you crossing out?

- You saw. - Stop taking those pills!

I was thinking of that day in Klagenfurt.

My first real pain. It's stayed with me.

Not the exam story again!

I was walking along the river.

I was 13.

- An angelic boy said to me... - "I've something for you."

How did you know? "I've something for you."

But when I drew near, he punched me hard in the face,

and said, "That's for you!"

That was my first encounter with pain and another's pleasure in violence.

- That could only happen to you! - Nothing ever happens to you!

Face to face with death...

Don't you feel anything?

- Not even disgust? - You have to discuss everything.

Why do you feel contempt for me, Ivan?

Isn't it enough I always come back to you?

That's what I wanted to know.

It's all I ask.

Malina?

Can an outsider come between two people?

I don't mean us, of course.

Nothing can come between us.

Why not us?

Because it's either us together or nothing!

They'll break your fingers to pry it from you when you're dead!

What do you mean?

Can't you take a joke?

It wasn't a joke!

You didn't address it.

That letter needs no address.

But you're not a child.

"Another brandy?" Uncle Gabriel had another.

The policeman said, "What kind of an artist are you?"

Uncle Gabriel looked down modestly

and replied, "I'm a chorus girl."

- I'd like to have them all the time. - I bet you're glad we're going.

Ivan, about Venice... It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.

- It'd be good for you to go. - We could...

I've explained it all.

Mother vetoed Tyrol. We'll go to Lake Mond.

- When? - In two days.

I couldn't reach you yesterday to tell you.

Good timing.

Come here... come here, little one.

The Altenwyls invited me to Lake Wolfgang.

If I don't go, Antoinette will be hurt.

Go, get a change of air instead of being buried in Vienna.

I need a prince to rescue me.

I defended you, princess, now I'll save you.

Who are you? Show me your face.

- Come with me, don't leave me. - I can't.

My people are older than any other, and scattered to the winds.

That'll be in 20 centuries.

We'll talk like humans.

I'll talk like a woman, and you like a man.

But...

Don't answer a May 31 letter, or even mention the date!

- These can't wait! - I thought...

Leave. For God's sake, leave!

You're stuttering. Why? I'm not imagining it!

I'm busy today, so we won't see each other.

Tomorrow? No need to drive me to the station.

I'm in an awful hurry.

See you tomorrow.

What are you doing?

Afraid I'd throw out your posthumous works in your absence?

I don't want to leave Vienna!

Come on.

In summer, all proper people...

must be seen in cafes on the banks of Lake Wolfgang and nowhere else.

Okay, it doesn't matter.

I understand.

Send me a postcard signed by the kids.

I can't talk now. I must call a cab.

Hello. You came after all.

I hear odd things of you.

You promised me tranquillity, Antoinette.

Don't worry.

We'll be alone. There will be no one but the family.

- How big is your family? - You can't stay shut in all your life.

- Get back in touch with humanity. - Antoinette...

Madam, a letter for you.

Madam? Dinner is served.

My dear guests, welcome to this hunt dinner.

I must point out the links between hunting and this house.

You've seen all the trophies, and you wonder why they're here.

Hunting is a family tradition, generations old.

My ancestors collected these trophies over the centuries.

Perhaps you won't like some of them,

because they're dead things.

But in keeping with our tradition, they've always been kept in this home.

I, too, respect this tradition... and I've kept them here.

"Soon I will be completely transformed..."

"Soon I will be completely transformed..."

You know I'll desperately miss every one of these days.

I despair at wasting them like this when life is at Lake Mond.

It's irreversible.

"I saw sentences under the spotlight, hanging between the trees,"

"floating in sewers, printed by cars in the hot asphalt."

- Telegram service, hello... - I need to send a telegram at once.

About an urgent trip... back to Vienna.

Thank you, Malina!

I'm suffocating! Please sign off a little earlier, just for once.

Listen, I'm stuck here.

All right, then don't bother.

All right.

Yes.

Sorry, it was nothing.

Around me the angels lose their wings.

They're carrying me as they do the sick,

carrying me to heaven.

And then I return to this same spot in one or two years,

to confuse places and times,

and to confuse you and me.

A book about the war!

Mother!

Mum!

Eleanor!

- Tell me, who is your father? - You really are here!

- Why do you keep saying "my father"? - Cover me up!

I don't know who could be my father.

- Do you know who your father is? - We're talking about your father!

- Who is he? - I don't know.

- Swear you don't know! - No.

I never swear.

Then I'll tell you.

- I'll tell you. - No.

No.

No, you'll never tell me.

No.

Don't tell me.

No.

Bring me a towel for my headache.

You'll tell me!

- You can be sure of it! - No. No.

Make an effort. Stand up.

Walk a bit!

I long for peace!

- You yourself want war! - I want the war to end.

- Breathe. - No more hating.

Breathe!

You're better already.

I'm holding you.

We'll go to the window.

Easy.

Don't say anything.

Don't cry on my behalf

My pain does not distress me

This is the only moment

Of happiness

Don't cry on my behalf

My pain does not distress me

This is the only moment

Of happiness

Have some tea. Your egg's ready.

How did it go bad in only two days? It was in the fridge.

- Forgive me, Malina. - For what?

Get dressed. I don't like talking this early.

Even if the Gods have been cruel

Even if my fate has been hostile to me

My death

Is a symbol of fate's pity on me

Don't cry on my behalf

My pain does not distress me

This is the only moment

Of happiness

Don't cry on my behalf

My pain does not distress me

This is the only moment

Of happiness

Calm down.

It'll pass.

I'm cold.

It's my steel plate. Remember my accident?

Everyone should have a bit of steel or plastic

in the body area that most attracts others.

With you, it's your shoulders.

This is the only moment

Of happiness

You don't go mad that way!

- Come on, I beg you! - Don't beg me. Don't beg me!

- Come on! - Don't beg me!

I beg you! Ivan must never know. He mustn't know.

Promise me! While I can, I'll do the talking.

- Don't tell Ivan! - Tell whom?

Not a word! To me, to anyone!

Talk to me! How was the dinner with the Fleissners?

Say something, talk to me, about anything!

Light candles, turn on lights, I need light!

- I know there are candles. - Stop it!

I know. Turn on all the lights, everywhere, all the time...

- In fact, Malina... - What? Go to sleep. You must sleep.

- I said a name before, a man's name? - No.

Turn on the light for me.

The man's still alive, he'll call me. If he does,

tell him... tell him... No, never mind.

Don't tell him anything. Tell him I'm out.

- What can I do for you? - What could you do?

Hurl myself under a car, or into the Danube. How are you?

Lots of work, nothing special. The kids are getting used to it.

- I once worked for a news service. - Yes, you told me.

They really manipulate news! It's incredible!

They juggle the stuff pouring off the wire.

- Perfect for you. - It gets to you, chills your blood.

I didn't read a newspaper for two years.

I can't drink whisky at night.

Do you have something to tell me?

I can interpret those dreams.

- Why are you laughing? - I'm not laughing.

You ought to get some sleep.

I'm starting to understand. I've always distorted words.

Instead of "model role",

I'd read "mortal role".

Could you get up early tomorrow?

I'm dead tired.

If, for once, you ensure that my egg

isn't undercooked or overcooked,

I'd be grateful.

Water of the Danube and the Neva must soak them

so they become statues in ice!

- First you must kill the poor things? - Of course not!

If I did,

this couple's expression of the laws of nature would disappear.

No, I'll spray them alive.

- You'll kill them anyway. - Of course not.

Their natural movements expressing the laws of beauty...

...would disappear.

I'll have them... sprayed... alive.

You'll kill them!

Certainly not!

You know Eleanor wasn't my sister.

We were close as children.

At school in Vienna, we'd go to Sunday concerts.

Sometimes we dated the same men.

Were you jealous?

No.

Then she sent me a sad letter, most unlike her.

And Eleanor?

I don't know.

She died abroad.

"She turns them into something precious and holy."

"All the thoughts she gives birth to, generally grim and gloomy..."

"If someone ill-advised seeks to satisfy a sick curiosity,"

"I warn him kindly he'll find nothing to excite a sick imagination."

"He'll only find inevitable vice,"

"the eyes of the demon lurking in the darkness."

Animus... Animus... Animus...

People today are all so nervous

Any small thing can set them off

When one rails against another I just use a bit of fun

To stop their scolding right away I sing my little song

Whoever's slinging mud Should feel ashamed

He should grab something else than mud

A young lady tripped Over a sharp stone

Her fiancé said lovingly "My poor angel!"

Who's she?

It's January 26th!

The rain washed everything.

It's stifling here. Let's go to the window.

- Those dreams... - Come!

Those dreams...

Your memories?

At times, I'm confused.

No one can be everything to someone.

Exactly.

No one was ever everything to me.

That's what's so sad.

Now you must do this:

Destroy all those people in one person.

But I've been destroyed.

That's true.

You must make do.

Or not.

Father! This time you'll listen to me!

Have you nothing to say?

I know you!

He's no father, he's my murderer!

Why keep repeating "father"?

It's always war!

A never-ending war.

Oh, you're here.

Sign this. Here's your letter.

I thank you for every letter you don't give me.

But your mail must be pleasant. I do my best.

We'll see. The mail can be a burden.

Wait. I almost forgot.

Here. Take this.

You have a sense of humour!

One can feel close to people one hardly knows. I do with you.

How many letters written and not mailed?

10,000 in the past five years.

- What've you done to your clothes? - I've broken with myself.

You can't go out like that!

Look at yourself!

God, look at yourself!

What if we went to live elsewhere?

You can't go on like this. Look!

You say it smells like cat piss here. It still smells like cat piss.

I don't understand you anymore.

Here!

Don't start crying!

We're staying here?

Didn't you want to go out?

No.

I'm staying here for good.

- You? - Surprised?

- You should have phoned first. - I came for the radio! I need news!

- Very chic. The latest fashion? - The very latest.

Sorry, I have to kick you out.

Sure, kick me out.

- Ivan... - Yes. Do you want a drink?

Something's happened. You look like a tornado hit you.

I'm still in it.

- Nothing to say? - Me? Not a thing.

Just "Ivan", nothing else.

You've said a bit more.

Ivan... my life.

You are joy, and you are life.

Believing in you brings eternal life.

- What? - Nothing!

When did you start shortening my life? When did I die?

My sweet lunatic, you'll come back to life someday.

Someday I'll tell you something, once and for all.

- Not today, but I will. - Out of smokes?

That's what I meant to tell you: I'm out of smokes.

Sorry, I must leave. I'm sick. I've forgotten something.

I must've forgotten to turn off the coffee on the gas...

I must've forgotten...

You don't mind?

Of course I don't mind.

Of course you don't!

You must tidy up.

- What does that mean? - Remember that posthumous works...

"Types of death".

Wait, it's not like that anymore.

Wait... There!

Now it's like this. Read it.

"Rates of deaths".

I try, but I don't understand you.

Remember the night you wouldn't plug in the light

and stayed in the dark all night?

I've often been in the dark while you were in the light!

- No! You hurt me! - It was a slight tap!

You hurt me! My purse...

- Lipstick? - Yes.

There, now I've no more secrets from you.

- I'll wear a new black dress and belt. - And you'll put on a dark shawl.

- As you never wear a striped dress. - I will, eventually!

At least you didn't tear it. Thanks for leaving it.

You left me, too, Malina.

- I should say, you abandoned me. - Nonsense!

I mean, you left me alive... And that's all.

What does "alive" mean?

What's not liveable!

You forgot long ago that I exist with you.

Me? Forget you?

- Let's go! - No.

You go first. I'll follow you.

Hello?

No.

No, I'm alone. Yes.

Yes, I'll call you back.

Good evening, madam. Good evening, sir.

Coming, Ivan?

I can't!

Don't you see someone's already sat here?

Sorry, you must be hungry. Let's go back in.

I'll eat now. At first I couldn't bear it.

- We can move on. - No.

I hated to think that another couple like us could sit there.

As if nothing had ever happened.

- We needn't go in. - No.

But I will, for my last meal.

I'll know how a condemned man feels.

Please... could... could you...

- Could you... - What?

Just a second.

Tell me...

Can you help me?

Wait a second...

I... I...

I... I don't know where I am!

I'm lost. Where's "Ungargasse"?

There'll be no tomorrow. People won't be...

They'll never be... It'll be the end.

No tomorrow. It'll be the end.

Don't look at me that way, it's mine!

Get up!

I once met someone handsome...

- The one who devastated you? - Just the opposite.

How does someone so handsome,

make you dream more than anyone on earth?

- Beauty is nothing! - I know...

It's minor to you, but it's vital, and I've seen it.

I've never been happy, but I've seen beauty!

Stand up! Make an effort, damn it!

- Don't let yourself go. - Let you go? I? Let you go?

I'm talking about you letting yourself go!

I'll stand up for you alone!

Just as I eat only to please you.

Kill him! Kill him!

- Did you say something? - Kill him!

I can't. It's impossible.

- He's my life! - Kill him!

The prince will become a toad.

At least I won't hurt anyone.

You're deathly pale. Are you sick?

Thank you.

You need rest.

No, I'm in good health.

Will we phone each other?

Yes.

I said we'll phone each other now and then!

Yes, I understood. We'll call each other.

What's the point?

Why scream? We'll phone each other.

I've a lot to do these days.

This is the only moment

Of happiness

Now's the time to call him like we said.

What are you doing?

If no one calls, this wall must open!

It's got to give eventually.

- Can't you control yourself? - No, I can't!

Soon nothing will confuse my memory.

Lie down.

It's got to give in!

It's got to give in!

It won't give in simply because you want it to.

I've lost the only odour that let me sleep peacefully.

If you've loved someone, it should change his life.

Forever...

It's time for you to leave.

- You have what you need? - Yes.

- You'll be okay alone? - Of course.

Sorry about the dress.

I've a mad desire to wear it today. Today I'm in the mood to wear it.

How do you always know my size?

- I can still cancel it. - No, you go ahead!

Thanks so much for the dress.

Moment of happiness

I must speak to you today.

I must say it to you now.

You've already taken three. That's enough!

No, one and a half!

- Can't you see one's cut in half? - I counted them this morning.

Three are missing!

Two and a half, maximum. And halves don't count.

Sleep well.

You don't understand anything.

- You said something? - Please one more.

- No. - I need it!

- No. - I can't stand it! Oh, please!

No more for you!

Please!

- Let's go to sleep. - One more! Just one!

Please!

My last wish. Here's what I want to preserve of my life:

Malina's beautiful voice, but none of my fine words in fits of madness.

I won't swallow 40 pills, for Ivan's sake,

so that Ivan doesn't feel guilty.

To His Excellency Malina I'll do no harm,

only because I don't want to harm Ivan.

Ivan is not guilty.

- How long's this wall been cracked? - When did you notice it?

When did those shadows appear over the radiator?

There has to be something on the wall. Since we don't hang pictures.

I need white walls, intact walls.

- I hate wounded walls. - That's all you can put on?

- Why always my old bathrobe? - I've nothing else to put on.

Something must have gone awry...

A man, a woman...

It's a strange madness.

What words? And what mistake?

I don't think so.

- But are we here and now? - Yes.

You must keep me, Malina.

How should I treat you?

I hate you!

- You said something? - No, you must keep me. It's not true.

I never hated you.

I'll never believe another thing you say.

Never again!

What are you doing?

Come and sit down.

No more letters, anyway!

Are you done?

What are you up to?

Get us some coffee.

Yes. If you like, I'll go at once.

My kingdom!

My wondrous country that I held in my mortal hands!

My country!

My wondrous country that I held in my mortal hands!

My country, now no bigger than this flame.

Don't burn! Don't burn!

I must not burn! I must not burn!

- Malina. - Yes?

If you dump me now, it'll be murder.

Murder?

Yes.

One you won't have committed.

Hello.

No, wrong number.

Hello.

Tell you the number again?

71-39-37.

No, there's no woman here.

There's no one here.

There was never a woman here by that name.

My name?

It was murder.