All language subtitles for The.Song.Of.Names.2019.1080p.WEBRip.X264.DD.5.1-EVO

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

[RAINDROPS PATTERING]

[♪♪♪]

Subtitles by explosiveskull
www.OpenSubtitles.org

[CAR HORNS HONKING]

ANNOUNCER: It is sometimes
said that both the shortest

and the longest distance
in art

is that between the very good
and the truly great.

Well, tonight,
David Eli Rapoport

may well cross that divide.

Those of us who
have been privileged

to hear
his promotional recording

are unanimous in declaring
the extraordinary playing

by this 21-year-old
Polish immigrant:

"Music from the gods."

So great has been the impact
of this recording by Rapoport

on the classical music world

that one tends to forget

how little known
his name still is.

And tonight will be
his first-ever concert

on an international stage.

[PHONE RINGING]

Nothing yet.

He's had an accident.
There's no other explanation.

ENID:
We don't know that.

GILBERT: Martin,
telephone the hospitals.

I already have, Father.

Mr. Sanderson's doing it
again now.

- Has anyone informed the police?
- It's too early for that.

How was he this afternoon?
Was he all right at rehearsal?

- He seemed fine.
- Did he take the violin with him?

He takes it everywhere.
He takes it to the loo.

[GROANING]

ENID:
Gilbert, stop working yourself

into a froth.
Perhaps his watch stopped.

A self-winding wristwatch
does not stop.

Well, it does if you drop it.

Might have got stuck
in traffic.

Did he say where
he was going after?

He didn't.

Dovidl does things
his own way, Mr. Simmonds.

Helen's right.
He's probably walking here.

He likes walking
in the rain.

With a Gagliano under his arm?

I'll keep an eye out.

[CROWD CHATTERING]

[SIGHS]

[PEOPLE CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY]

Have you seen
who's out there?

Peers of the realm,
members of Parliament,

The Times music critic.

Such people
are not to be kept waiting.

This means as much to him
as it does to you.

- Does it really?
- I know.

You don't know, Martin.

He could be lying
in a gutter somewhere,

hurt...

dead.

[♪♪♪]

They'll have to be told.

Let me do it.

[INHALES SHARPLY]

[PEOPLE CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY]

[CHATTERING QUIETS]

My lords, ladies, gentlemen,

it is with great regret
I have to tell you

the performer
you have come to see

is unable to be here
this evening,

so the performance
cannot take place.

Refunds...

[CROWD MURMURING]

...may be claimed
at the box office.

Extraordinary.

[♪♪♪]

[HORN HONKS]

- HELEN: Take your pills.
- Um...

Don't wear the same shirt
twice. Sell music.

Oh, here, Martin.
Hey, Martin. Here.

[CAR HORN HONKING]

Taxi's here.
You're late, by the way.

You'll miss the train.
And the music competition.

And if the estimate
for the roof arrives,

- let me know as soon as possible.
- Why?

Because I might
have to walk home.

Have a good trip.

[ENGINE STARTS]

King's Cross.

[SIGHS]

[♪♪♪]

[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]

I have every confidence
that this year's finalists

will maintain
the high musical standard

for which Tyneside
is justly famous.

Vienna of the north.

So without further ado,
let competition commence,

and may music
speak louder than words.

[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]

[PLAYING BACH'S
"PARTITA FOR VIOLIN NO. 2"]

[CELLO AND PIANO PLAYING
KRIESLER'S "LIEBESLIED"]

[PLAYING BEETHOVEN'S
"BAGATELLES, OP. 26"]

[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]

- Our final young musician...
- Can we go home now?

- ...came from South Shields.
- One genius, maybe two.

Please put your hands together
for Peter Stemp.

[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]

[SIGHS]

[♪♪♪]

[PLAYING MOZART'S
"SONATA NO. 13"]

[VIOLIN PLAYING WIENIAWSKI'S
"THEME ORIGINAL VARIE, OP. 15"]

Professor Flesch?

What do you think?

Too many flourishes.
You are not Kreisler, young man.

Kreisler is not Rapoport.

You will teach him?

He is genius.

I am sent 10 geniuses a month,
Pan Rapoport.

If your son accepts that he has
still something to learn,

perhaps I can teach him.

- You are staying in London?
- No.

I go back to Warsaw
to my wife and daughters.

If I can find somebody
to take David, I leave him here.

Do you know of Jewish family,
Mr. Simmonds?

I can pay a little.

As it happens, I do have
a family in mind, Mr. Rapoport.

It isn't Jewish,
but it is musical

- and will cost you nothing.
- This is English family?

It is. My own son
is David's age.

They would share a bedroom.

I can promise you the tenets
of your religion

will be fully respected,

its requirements met
in every regard.

[♪♪♪]

[IN POLISH] - You understand?
- Yes.

It's a good family.

I have something for you.

[♪♪♪]

[SIGHS]

[IN POLISH]
Be brave, son. I'll be back.

[ENGINE SPUTTERS, STARTS]

[CAR DOOR CLOSES]

I don't want you in my room.
I like being on my own.

- It is not your choose.
- Wrong, clever.

It is my "choose."

I decide if it's all right.

And if it isn't,
you go back to Poland.

And the Germans are going
to invade Poland.

You'll have to wear
a yellow star,

and you'll be bashed up
by brownshirts.

What is "bashed up"?

You better not snore,
that's all.

If I snore,
I snore in tune.

I am musician. You play?

Piano... a bit.

Chess?

A bit.

Everything for you is "bit."

I am genius.

I help you.

You will be "bit" genius.

Bet I could get you down.

- [GRUNTS]
- [GASPS]

- Also fight a bit.
- Bloody foreigner!

You can't even talk
proper English.

Do you speak Polish? Russian?

- German? Yiddish? Hebrew?
- We're in England, stupid.

What's your name, anyway?

Dovid Eli Rapoport.

My family call me Dovidl.

You?

Martin L. Simmonds.

I call you Mottl.

[SCOFFS]

- Hello.
- How do you do?

Peter.

So, what's all this about?

You didn't give Peter the prize.

Now we're having
this posh lunch.

Not my decision.

So you would've made Peter
the winner,

if it was up to you?

Well, the girl
is further along.

Peter needs more time,
better tuition.

- Who's been teaching him?
- He gets lessons at school.

- I can't afford fancy teachers.
- We can discuss that.

You know a good cheap one,
do you?

- Several good, none cheap.
- In Newcastle?

- In London.
- Oh, well.

I'll just have to sell
the yacht, then, won't I?

Well, I could help with tuition
during the holidays.

So you think
Pete's that good, then?

He'll never be a Heifetz,

but he could make a living
with an orchestra or teaching.

Who's been teaching you?

- School.
- Mm-hm.

And somebody else.

That thing you do
with the rosin.

Oh, that's for good luck.
I can stop.

But who is it?

Maybe I know him.

You don't know him.

He's a virtuoso, about my age.

It's not Pete you want,
is it?

Come on, Pete, we're going.

Thanks for lunch.

[SIGHS]

[KNOCKING AT DOOR]

Peter.

I'll take you to him.

[VIOLIN PLAYING CLASSICAL TUNE]

This is Mr. Simmonds, Billy.

He's gonna pay for me
to have lessons in London.

What did I tell you?
I told you you'd get discovered.

He says you've been
helping him.

I showed him a few things.

- That's very kind of you, sir.
- Where did you learn to play?

Who wants to know?

Your best customer.

He never told me his name.

It was years ago.

- And where was this?
- London.

I used to play
the cinema queues up west,

when they had cinema queues.

I was outside the Odeon,

playing the theme music,
you know, from the film,

and this cheeky, little bugger
comes up

and tells me
I could do with lessons.

"Oh, yeah?" I says. "Who from?"

"I don't normally
give lessons," he says,

only he's saving up for
some trip he wants to go on.

I assume he demonstrated.

Takes the violin
right out of me hands.

You never heard nothing like it
in your life.

Crowd starts chucking
half crowns, 10 bob notes.

I give him half.
Fair's fair, right?

When was the last time
you saw him?

Important, is it?

He gave me a few lessons,

twice a week for a while.

One day, he didn't turn up.
Never saw him again.

Must have gone on that trip.

- Did he say where?
- He said something

about going home
to play for the ashes.

His exact words were...?

Something about a song.

Going home to play a song.

For the ashes.

[♪♪♪]

Helen, I think
I might have found him.

- Did you hear what I said?
- Yeah, uh...

Yeah, I heard.

You should, uh,
get some sleep, honey.

I'll speak to you
tomorrow, okay?

ANNOUNCER [ON RADIO]: Germany has
invaded Poland and has bombed many towns.

General mobilization has been
ordered in Britain and France.

Hostilities have been going on
since early this morning

along the frontiers
between Germany and Poland.

There is no news about
the progress of either side.

The German Supreme Command
announced

at half past 11 this morning

that German troops had crossed
all the frontiers,

that the German air force
had gone into action

and that the German navy
had taken charge of the Baltic.

According to the Poles,
it was at about...

I'm sure your family
will be all right, David.

- Have you written home?
- I am writing letter.

Good lad.

Can I make more letter now?

- Permission granted, old chap.
- He hasn't finished his dinner.

Special dispensation. Go
and finish your letter, David.

It was earlier reported that
in a big attack about 9:00,

Warsaw itself was bombed.

- The Polish worry...
- It's not fair.

What isn't?

No bacon allowed in the house.

No milk puddings.

Special food for the genius,

and he doesn't
even have to eat it.

If you take over
preparing David's food,

you may have a say
in whether he eats it.

And he's a liar.

He's not writing a letter.

It isn't very nice, Martin,
to tell tales on a friend.

My friends don't wet the bed.

Considering the position
his family is in,

I'd say wetting the bed is the
least we can expect from him.

ENID: Go and see if
you can cheer him up.

Didn't seem all
that down to me.

That's a wicked thing
to say.

Go to your room.

Hitler alleging in his speech:

"Every bomb will be
answered with bombs.

Whoever fights with poison gas

will be fought
with poison gas."

[CRYING SOFTLY]

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

I have cold.

They'll be all right.

We'll smash
the Jerries up for you.

No one stands up
to the British army.

Play you a game of chess,
if you like.

Chess with you take my mind off
for two minutes.

Three.

I feel lucky.

[♪♪♪]

[INDISTINCT CONVERSATION]

Oi! You thieving,
little bleeder!

[BOTH LAUGH]

- Here.
- Great.

[CHUCKLES]

Wow.

[DOVES COOING]

We make good team, yes?

[CHUCKLES]

- You want fight?
- Yeah.

[♪♪♪]

[BOTH LAUGHING]

[VIOLIN PLAYING IN DISTANCE]

[WOMAN SINGING IN DISTANCE]

Professor Flesch isn't here.
I've been waiting an hour.

Ah, I wonder where he could be.

Back in Hungary, probably.

He thinks the Waffen-SS
are coming over London Bridge.

- Jozef Wechsler of Warsaw.
- Gilbert Simmonds.

I believe Professor Flesch
has mentioned you.

Dovid Eli Rapoport,
also of Warsaw.

Your boy will need
to find a new teacher.

You know Dr. Steiner of Leipzig?

I know of him.

He's in London now.

He has played Mozart
with Einstein.

I learn physics,
I go to Einstein.

Mr. Wechsler is not
recommending Einstein

- as a violin teacher, David.
- Heh.

- DOVIDL: I practice alone.
- GILBERT: Mm.

And from who
will you learn humility?

Not from you.

Let's see for ourselves,
shall we?

[PLAYING REPEATING SCALES]

- [DOOR SLAMS]
- [STOPS PLAYING]

Actually, Steiner's
not a bad idea.

I do not need teacher.
Only to practice.

Who will make sure you don't
skip the tricky bits

- when your fingers are hurting?
- How about me?

- Pfft, you are a boy.
- Older than you.

Fifty-five days older.

Boys, please.
It's a very mature undertaking.

MARTIN:
I'm more mature than he is.

Well, then, if you're finished
demonstrating your maturity...

- Hey!
- Ha, ha.

Suppose some difficulty
were to arise

that I needed to know about,

and your friend asked you
to keep it from me.

Wouldn't that be
a conflict of loyalties?

My loyalty's to you, Father.

Very well, then.
Let's give it a go.

[CHUCKLES]

[WHISPERS]
Not a bad idea, huh?

[WHISPERS]
Not bad.

- I might have been a burglar.
- Heh, with his own key?

Locksmith by trade.

[SIGHS]

So how was your trip?

Made the train fare back.

And what did you find?

He was still in London
in 1952.

Oh, there's a hot trail
for you.

Well, whatever his reason
for not turning up,

at least we know
he wasn't dead.

Just because he was alive
30-odd years ago

doesn't mean he is now.

True.

- This gonna be your new hobby?
- Mm-hm.

Finding David
after half a lifetime

so he can crap
all over you again?

If you'd lost a brother...

Oh, please.
He wasn't your brother.

It's not a competition.

Everything is a competition.
Read your Darwin.

I don't want to have
this conversation right now.

I'm tired and hungry
and I need a bath, so...

Okay. We'll have it later,
when you're fed and rested.

You can have it.
I'll be the audience.

Where did he go in 1952?

- Thought you weren't interested.
- Historical curiosity.

Poland. He went to Poland.

[DOG BARKS IN DISTANCE]

[PIANO AND VIOLIN PLAYING
IN DISTANCE]

[PLAYING SPICCATO]

[PLAYS PIZZICATO]

Again.

Again.

- I didn't say you could stop.
- I've done enough today.

I decide
when you've done enough.

- My fingers are hurting.
- They're supposed to.

I'll tell him, Dov.

I mean it.

GILBERT:
So same time tomorrow?

All right. Good night.

Cheerio. Cheerio, chaps.

- All right. Safe home.
- See ya.

- Tittle-tattle.
- Baby.

Sorry to interrupt, boys.

Let's shed some light
on the matter, eh?

Now you can see
what you're doing.

Martin, how's the violin
coming along?

- All right.
- What's he working on?

Pizzicato, Mr. Simmonds.

Good, good. Well, you may
as well keep at it

till Herr Hitler's
Gotterdammerung starts up.

You owe me one.

Just play.

[AIR RAID SIREN WAILING]

[BOMBS EXPLODING IN DISTANCE]

- [PEOPLE CHATTERING]
- [EXPLOSIONS AND SIREN CONTINUE]

[♪♪♪]

ENID:
Come along.

What are you doing?

- Do you want to get killed?
- It would have been like this.

This is what they went through.

My sisters, my parents.

- ENID: Martin!
- WOMAN: James!

Come on.

Look. Jozef Wechsler.

Have you learned how to play?

[SCOFFS]

- David?
- Martin!

GILBERT:
Come along, you two!

[PEOPLE CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY]

MAN:
Here, sit yourself down.

Very good. Here we are.

Boys, opposite.

You see him?

Over there.

[SIREN CONTINUING IN DISTANCE]

[INHALES SHARPLY]

[PLAYING PAGANINI'S
"CAPRICE NO. 9 IN E MAJOR"]

[CONTINUING PAGANINI'S
"CAPRICE NO. 9 IN E MAJOR"]

[EXHALES SHARPLY]

[CROWD APPLAUDING, CHEERING]

[MEN SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]

Oh, you lot
took your bloody time.

SOLDIER 1: Yeah,
well, we're here now.

SOLDIER 2:
Have a good night?

[BIKE CLATTERS]

Where are you going?

Dov?

There's a body.

MARTIN:
What are you doing?

It isn't yours.

Don't do that!

Do you know what you get
for robbing the dead?

You get pound notes.

A firing squad, Dov.

I don't mind sharing.

[SIGHS]

[♪♪♪]

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

[COUGHING]

Who do you fancy? The ace
of clubs has the best tits.

The four of diamonds
has the best bum.

Your bar mitzvah's
in 10 days, Dov.

You're supposed to be a man.

Looking at pictures of naked
women doesn't make you a man.

Neither does watching
Shirley Smith undress

through binoculars.

That was
a scientific experiment.

In what? Wanking?

Bollocks.

Anyway, you don't
look like a man.

Being a man
doesn't mean that, does it?

What does it mean, O wise one?

Among other things,
respecting the dead.

Why? Because they're dead?

This was a human person, Dov.

She probably
went to bed planning to...

I don't know.
...make fish cakes.

And she ends up dead
in the rubble of her house.

Don't you feel anything?

Do you know how many people
died last night, Mottl?

I don't just mean in London.

Across occupied Europe.

Shot, bayonetted, blown up,

starved, burned alive, hung...

- That's not the point.
- Tens of thousands!

And nobody
even knows their names.

So tell me,
little man from NW3,

which ones am I supposed
to feel for?

All of them, or just the ones
I trip over the morning after?

[READING IN HEBREW]

[RECITING IN HEBREW]

[SPEAKS IN HEBREW]

[CONGREGATION REPLIES
IN HEBREW]

[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]

[BRAKES SQUEAK]

Come along, you two.

How old is the boy?

The boy is 13.

A man, Mr. Bailey,
in David's culture.

Good fingers.

Thank you.

- Have you considered the luthier?
- Yes.

But nothing outrageously
expensive, Mr. Bailey.

Oh, agreed.

Shall we leave the Strads
to the millionaires?

I have something in mind.

This is
a Nicolo Gagliano figlio.

The son of Alessandro Gagliano

made this violin in 1735,

the year of his father's death.

Many people think
it's a tribute violin.

Happy bar mitzvah, David.

Thank you, sir.

[INHALES SHARPLY]

[TUNING]

[PLAYING BRUCH'S
"VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 1"]

[SIGHS]

BAILEY:
See how she responds?

It will be a happy marriage.

[♪♪♪]

Do you speak English?

I only, um...
little English, yeah?

Is there a musicians' union
in Warsaw?

[SPEAKS IN POLISH]

Right.

David Rapoport. R...

R-A-P-O...

No, I don't know how long.

Would have been here
in the '50s... 1950s.

Rapoport.

No, I think I need someone
who speaks English.

Thank you anyway.

[SIGHS]

[TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING]

[BRAKES HISSING]

[PASSENGERS CHATTERING]

Martin.

Wait here. Back in a moment.

MAN:
Thank you very much.

No news. I'm sorry, David.

I tried very hard.
It's difficult in Warsaw.

Are you sure you went
to the right address?

Dzielna 21.

Your apartment,

the tenement
your family lived in...

no longer exists,
I'm afraid.

It's not the worst news, David.

Definitely not the worst.

Let's go home.

Come on.

David's family definitely
survived the ghetto.

We know that much.
They were deported

before the uprising in '43.

Deported where?

Treblinka.

I will not give up the search,
and you must not give up hope.

There are any number
of places they could be.

One of the DP camps.
Russia, possibly.

Why did you take Jozef Wechsler
to Poland and not me?

I play as well as he does.

The reason I didn't take you

is that I'm responsible for you

in a way I'm not for Jozef.

You're both Polish citizens...

Something we must rectify,
by the way.

They could have kept you there.
Witness what happened to Jozef.

What happened to him?

His entire family's gone.

The Poles have kept him...

in an asylum.

Nothing.

[DOOR OPENS]

Not in the shed.

Not in our room either.
And his violin's gone.

Is he likely
to do anything silly?

Oh, yes, Mother.
Run away and join a band.

For God's sake, Martin.

Any idea where he might be?

Then go and find him.

[DOG BARKING IN DISTANCE]

[BIRD WARBLING]

Hello, Dov.

[GRUNTS]

Mother thinks
you've topped yourself.

[CHUCKLES]

Against my religion.

[SIGHS]

It's that thing I'm killing.

The varnished tyrant.

Why have I never seen this?

It's how I've kept them safe...

hiding them from everyone.

I'm not everyone.

[♪♪♪]

[CHUCKLES]

Which one's Malkeh?

She's 5 there.

And Pessia was 9.

What was it like?
That life?

Still life with Jews.

Boys playing football.

Old men praying.

Ritual baths for the women.

Malkeh was too young for that,
so she would stay at home.

I'd play her a lullaby
at bedtime.

My father would wander
the streets every day, Mottl.

Imagine.

And every evening,
except the Sabbath,

selling his jewelry,

pieces he made at night while
the rest of us were asleep.

It's only presumption
of death.

Why your rabbi won't allow you
to say kiddush, right?

Kiddush is
the blessing over wine.

I can still say that.

This is the Kaddish.

[SPEAKING IN HEBREW]

Don't, Dov.
They could still be alive.

Do you think I'd go mad
if I knew for certain?

Strip off and run naked through
the streets like Wechsler,

waving my violin.

I don't think he did that.

Wechsler started out
half barmy.

- And I'm not?
- You've got me.

- A stabilizing influence.
- Mm, ordinary and boring.

Good for leaning on.
Like these rocks.

Ah, nice to know I'm good
for something.

Stop fishing for compliments.

This is my life crisis,
not yours.

What about joint life crisis?

You know, joint suicide note.

Don't have to do it, but it
would drive my father nuts.

[CHUCKLES]

Do you think
he'll ever recover?

Who?

Wechsler.

Will he stay mad forever,
do you think?

What do they do to lunatics
in Poland, I wonder.

Ice-cold baths?

Heap ashes on your head?

It's a place of ashes, Mottl.

It'd be exactly
the right treatment.

[♪♪♪]

[SIGHS]

Jozef,

I'm Martin Simmonds
from London.

You came here with my father
after the war.

Do you remember David Rapoport?

You played together
during an air raid.

You are friend
from Pan Wechsler?

A friend of a friend.

I was wondering if someone
we both knew had visited him.

Jozef has not much visitor.
His family is dead.

Just only the woman.

Who?

June 15 woman.

She comes one day every year.

June 15.

[CHILDREN CHATTERING]

[MUFFLED MUSIC PLAYING
OVER RADIO]

[CHILD SCREAMS, CRIES
IN DISTANCE]

[BUZZES]

Pani Wozniak?

Anna Wozniak?

You speak English?

Yes.

I was told you could help me.

What do you want?

I'm looking for David Rapoport.

[SIGHS]

You are Martin.

David came the year
your queen was coronated.

I lived on the same street
where he grew up.

It is how we met.

How long was he here for?

A few months. He was not
allowed a visa for very long.

And after?

This, he did not say.

They are allowed
in private homes.

Hm.

I took them down
when David was with me.

It would not have pleased him
to see them, I think.

He's not a fan of religion.

MARTIN: What's this thing
I'm supposed to witness?

- A ceremony.
- Another bar mitzvah?

- Not quite.
- Yeah, I suppose you need

one of those quorum thingies?

Oh, a minyan.
No. Just a witness.

Oh, a witness? So I qualify?

Probably not to God, Mottl.

Only to me.

You think he knows
where your family is? God?

Oh, he knows.
He just won't say.

Would Jesus, if you asked him?

Why? You thinking of converting?

Jews can't convert.

Wetting his head didn't wash
the Jew out of Jesus.

Ethnicity isn't soluble
in water, Mottl.

It's a skin you're born in
and wear until the day you die.

Now, religion,
well, that's a coat.

When it gets too hot,
you can take it off.

Good.

This is perfect.

He's here.

The ceremony's for him.

Now, listen and don't interrupt.

Hear, O Israel
and the God of Israel.

On this 19th day of Sivan,

in the year 5707, in London,

in the presence of
Martin Simmonds, also of London,

I, David Eli Rapoport, son
of Zygmunt and Esther Rapoport,

do freely and of my own will

renounce the faith
of my forefathers.

- What are you doing?
- Converting. Be quiet.

To what?

Nothing.

I do most solemnly renounce
and repudiate, now and forever,

in the name of the surviving,

the reviled and discredited
faith of the perished,

the faith of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob,

the accursed faith
of the despised,

the mocked, the persecuted
and the slaughtered,

the faith abandoned by Jesus.

Thus do I renounce
Torah and Talmud.

Thus do I divorce myself
from the community of Israel.

And as I separate this garment,

so do I separate myself,
now and for all times,

from the beliefs, practices,
traditions, rituals,

and obligations of Zion.

Amen.

[♪♪♪]

Where was the ghetto?

- Under the ground.
- Mm.

Where the past belongs.

How long did he stay
in Warsaw? For weeks?

Where was he staying?

For his first days,
in a pension.

Not a very good one.

And then...

with me.

And one day, he disappeared.

Martin, I loved your friend.

It was probably a mistake.

You don't choose who to love.

Trusting him is a mistake.

You must stop looking
for him, Martin.

It would not be good
to find him.

- For him or for me?
- Both.

If he wanted to be found,
don't you think

he would have
come to you long ago?

My father thought he was dead.

Two months later, he had
a stroke, and it killed him.

David told me of your
friendship, not how it ended.

Why do you visit Wechsler?

I go in place of David.

He went there only once,
to play for Jozef.

I was not permitted to hear it.

He sent me from the room
when he played.

The only other time
was in Treblinka.

He made me wait in the car

to play the song
where the ashes are.

MARTIN:
What song?

ANNA:
It was his obsession.

That's why he came to Poland.

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

[ENGINE SHUTS OFF]

This is where I waited.

None of this was here.

Only fields.

Some railway tracks.

His whole family
was murdered here.

Did he ever talk about them?

Pessia would have been... 15.

Malkeh... 10, 11, I think.

They never appeared
on any lists.

We always encouraged him
to hope.

He never spoke of them.

To David, Jews were not Poles.

I am a Pole.

I live where he lived.
I stole his life.

To him, I am
one of the persecutors.

You were just a baby then.

You don't have to be guilty
to feel guilty.

[CHOIR VOCALIZING]

[VIOLIN PLAYING MOURNFULLY]

The morning after,
I found a note.

He was gone.

He left everything behind.

What's everything?

Me.

Poland.

His past.

You.

His violin.

Wait a minute.

He left the violin?

I couldn't believe
he did that on purpose.

Something so precious.

I rushed to the airport
to return it.

He told me to sell it.

And send him the money?

- No. The money, I was to keep.
- And did you?

It was not mine to sell.

[SIGHS]

That is why he took it back.

I never lied to you, Martin.

He never told me
where he was going.

When I was giving him
the violin, a flight was called.

Suddenly, he was in a hurry.

The flight was to New York.

[♪♪♪]

Thank you.

God bless you, Martin.

[SIGHS]

HELEN:
I'm up here.

So?

I didn't find him.

[SIGHS]

That's it?

Well, I found out
where he went next.

And?

New York.

- Next stage of the great quest.
- Mm-hm.

You used to like him.

Well, I used
to like fairy stories.

You used to say he was fun.

Charismatic genius and all that.

Why are you
wasting your time on him?

Our time.

I might be all he's got.

Well, I'm all you've got.

[BAND PLAYING LIVELY MUSIC]

[CROWD SHOUTING,
CLAPPING TO BEAT]

[CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING]

[PLAYING "BUBLITSCHKI" INTRO]

[WHISPERS INDISTINCTLY]

- That was great fun.
- So that's Dov.

He's pretty good.

I'm glad you're here, Mottl.

And the much-advertised Helen.

No interest in Israel, I assume,

but Mottl's here for me,
so you're here for him, yes?

- A dance is a dance.
- My brother, Dov the apostate.

Not soluble in water.

Shall I join up and
shed blood for Israel, Mottl?

I think they're
only taking Jews.

There goes our reputation
for draft-dodging.

But they do take women.
One up on God.

If you're an apostate, why are
you celebrating a Jewish state?

They give great parties.
Never missed one yet.

- When was the last one?
- 516 BC.

[CHUCKLES]

Shall we?

[CHUCKLES]

We can dump him
and go back if you like.

No, it's okay.
Drop me off first.

I haven't seen him in lectures.
Is he in our year?

He's at Cambridge,
reading maths.

- Maths?
- Music and chess equals maths.

- Simmonds equation.
- Dead and gone to heaven.

[SPEAKS IN ITALIAN]

Am I supposed to be impressed?

Are you kidding?
Maths and Dante.

Nice meeting you, Dovidl.

What do you think?

Impregnable fortress.

Best of British luck
with that one, brother.

[VIOLIN PLAYING BACH'S "PARTITA
FOR VIOLIN NO. 2 CHACONNE"]

[PLAYING ENDS]

MARTIN:
Well done.

Lock that in the dressing room.
It'll be safe there.

Did Ulysses lock away his bow?

If it was pissing down
in Ithaca, absolutely.

- How do you think rehearsal went?
- How did it sound?

Great. Terrific. Magic.

It was crap.

Good crap though.

Great rehearsal,
crap performance.

Crap rehearsal,
great performance.

What are you gonna do? You've
got four-and-a-half hours.

- Uh, get drunk?
- Oh, so droll.

International debut
of David Eli Rapoport,

- tiddly-fiddly comedian.
- Heh.

Isaac Stern meets Vic Oliver.

You know what you ought
to do? Seriously. Relax.

I mean, totally.

Take my advice, kid.
Get yourself laid.

- Is that what you're going to do?
- No.

I'll be having
a haircut and a manicure:

Pulling my hair out
in handfuls

and biting my nails
to the quick.

See you in the trenches.

[♪♪♪]

[HORNS HONKING]

[SIREN WAILS]

[SNIFFS]

[BRAKES SQUEALING]

FEINMAN:
Yeah, can I help you?

- I'm looking for a Gagliano.
- Father, son, grandson?

Alessandro or one
of the Nicolos? What?

Uh, Nicolo, the son, 1735.

Well, listen, my, uh,
English-sounding friend,

I'm sorry to tell you,

but I think that you
are hunting dodoes.

I know of only two

listed Nicolo figlios
made in '35,

and neither one of those
has changed hands in forever.

This one
may not have been listed.

Oh, you're looking for
a particular unlisted violin?

- It's probably a fake.
- Not a fake.

It was sold at Bailey's,
in London.

My father, olav ha-sholom,
he used to do business

with Adrian Bailey.

And fakes, he didn't sell.

Has anyone ever tried
to sell you a...?

A Gagliano, 1735?

Are you looking for
the instrument or the owner?

- Both.
- A violin like that

comes up for sale,
it doesn't come here.

It goes to one of
the big auction houses.

This one hasn't.
Um, I tried.

When was, uh...?

Four years?

Yeah, we got a call
from a woman,

and she said Gagliano.

- My brother Hershel spoke to her.
- Did she give a name?

An address.
She wanted Hershel

to schlep all the way
to Brooklyn to see it.

And not only that,
she wanted him to come

a particular time,
a particular day.

We both thought,
"The husband doesn't know

- she wants to sell this thing."
- So he didn't go?

To a man my age and Hershel's
age, time is also a Gagliano.

Would your brother remember
the address in Brooklyn?

This is important to you, huh?

Crown Heights. Yeah.

Maybe I could find that address.

Yeah, don't go anywhere.

[♪♪♪]

[DOORBELL BUZZES]

Sorry to bother you.
I was given this address.

Looking for a violin.

[CHILDREN CHATTERING]

[IN YIDDISH]
Go fetch your father.

[BOY CALLS IN YIDDISH]

[IN ENGLISH]
Wait here, please.

You took your time, Mottl.

As you see,

I took off the coat...

I put it back on.

[♪♪♪]

[ENGINE SHUTS OFF]

[GROANING]

[COUGHING]
Stop.

[GROANING]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

Say it, Mottl.

You have no fucking idea,
do you?

Why did you do it?

I'm not sure
you'd understand.

[SCOFFS, SNIFFLES]

You know, when I abandoned
the Holy One,

it took him
four years to find me.

It's taken you 35. Not bad.

Yeah, well, your God didn't
punish you, but maybe I will.

Oh, so will he, in time.

Blessed be his name.

My father put everything
he had into you.

You ungrateful bastard!

Hebrew lessons, bar mitzvah,

the fucking violin!

That concert, he didn't
even insure it.

He didn't think he needed to.

He treated you like a...

A favorite son
for 12 fucking years,

and then you just buggered off
without a word!

He thought you were dead, Dov.

He lost everything that night.

And two months later, he dies
with your name on his lips.

[SIGHS]

[SCOFFS]

Do you remember what you said
to me the last time I saw you?

"Get laid," you said.

So I did.

And in my eagerness,
I'd come out without cab fare...

and had to go back by bus.

[♪♪♪]

[BRAKES SQUEAK]

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

[MEN SPEAKING IN YIDDISH]

Excuse me. Excuse me.

[IN YIDDISH]
I'm sorry to interrupt.

Could you tell me where I am?

- Where are you from?
- Hampstead.

[IN YIDDISH]
Originally?

Warsaw.

Your family?

Also Warsaw.

[IN ENGLISH]
I'm from Warsaw also.

[IN ENGLISH]
Before the war?

Before, during, after.

Ghetto, Treblinka, now here.

You survived Treblinka?

Yes. Some did.

Your family perished?

I mean, I don't know, but...

I know they were in Treblinka,
but we never...

Did you ever hear of them?

Zygmunt Rapoport?

Esther?

Pessia?

Malkeh?

Did you know any of them?

I am sorry, my young friend.

You want to know?

[IN YIDDISH]
Take him.

Come.

[THUNDER RUMBLING IN DISTANCE]

[MEN SPEAKING IN YIDDISH]

[IN YIDDISH]
Attention, please.

Hello.

We have a Rapoport from Warsaw.

Get the rebbe.

[IN ENGLISH]
Dovid, in our community,

we have a special duty
given to us

by the Alter Rebbe in Treblinka

to remember
the names of the dead.

These names
were committed to memory

through a song.

Later, they were
written down.

[IN YIDDISH] Rebbe, this is Dovid
Eli Rapoport from Warsaw.

He wants to know.

Welcome, Dovid.

I'm sorry to bother.

Please, take a seat.

[IN ENGLISH] Since there
were so many names,

10 elders were chosen
as a minyan of remembrance.

But not many survived.

[IN YIDDISH]
For the souls

Of our brothers and sisters

The children of Israel

The holy and pure

Rapoport, Avrum from Warsaw

Rapoport, Berel and Chayeh-Soroh

From Kutne

With children Yossl, Yechiel

And Leah

May their memories be blessed

Rapoport, Chaim-Dovid

Rapoport, Shua-Chaim

From Zychlin

Yerachmiel and his youngest daughter

Elke

With little Shloime

With Shneyur-Zalmen and with Rivke

May their memories be blessed

Rapoport, Anya from Warsaw

Rapoport, Bella with children

With Reuben and Rifke

From Warsaw

Rapoport, Zygmunt

Wife Esther

With daughter Pessia

With daughter Malkeh

[CRYING SOFTLY]

[SOBBING]

They set the names to music
to make them easier to remember.

This is oral tradition, Mottl.

It gave us the Torah...

passed down from mouth to ear
for a hundred generations.

It's the chain I cannot break.

How long does this song take?

Five days.

They do it in shifts.

Five rabbis, once a year.

I've only heard that done once.

So many names, Mottl.

[♪♪♪]

Afterwards, I sat shiva.
Full week.

No washing, no shaving,
no diversions.

Just prayers.

The Almighty had remembered
my family.

I'd abandoned him,
but he hadn't abandoned me.

In return, I made him a promise.

I would compose a violin version
of the Song of Names...

and play it at Treblinka.

And I would devote the rest
of my life to his worship.

Do you know what one
of the worst fears was

for Jews in the camps?

It wasn't dying.

It was dying
with their entire family,

leaving nobody behind
to say Kaddish for their souls.

On Yom HaShoah each year,

I say Kaddish for them.

[SIGHS]

A concert no longer
seemed important.

My life had changed.

If I had come back,
what would you have done?

I don't know. I don't know.

I owe you a violin.

You owe me a concert.

[SCOFFS]

No.

I'm not a bright, new discovery
anymore, Mottl, you know?

I doubt anybody remembers me.

When I play now,
it's always in an empty room.

- No audience but God.
- They remember your recording.

Well, then let that
be my memorial.

- That's not enough.
- It'll have to be.

It's not enough for me.
You owe me a concert.

And if you disappear on me
again, I will find you.

[♪♪♪]

[RINGS]

Yes?

DOVIDL:
I have two conditions.

[♪♪♪]

Hello, sir. Checking in?

HELEN: How do you
know he'll be there?

He'll be there.

Nobody changes,
least of all him.

Yeah, well, he's got
his religion back, hasn't he?

He'll be the same selfish
asshole he always was.

- In a black coat.
- Here, can you help?

Can he still play?

- Well, that's the risk, isn't it?
- What's he risking?

This is exactly
what your father did.

You'll spend every penny
we've got. He won't turn up.

You'll have a stroke.
You'll die.

- He won't come to your funeral.
- That's a bit morbid, isn't it?

[HELEN SIGHS]

HELEN:
True to form. It's now 10 to 8.

In artistic circles,
he's not even late for lunch.

- Has he told you the program yet?
- Mm-mm.

- No. It's one of his conditions.
- Ha.

Probably show tunes.

"Rusty virtuoso plays
the best of Broadway."

He wouldn't need to rehearse
for that, would he?

Oh, you've seen him
rehearsing, have you?

No. That's another one
of his conditions.

Hm.

He thinks that Dad
is watching.

He thinks that...
God is watching.

Hm. Same old audience,
everyone he's let down before.

Martin.

Helen.

- HELEN: David.
- You look well.

So that's it?

Thirty-five years and...
"You look well"?

Well, he's hungry. He's been
rehearsing silence all day.

No, I won't be eating.
None of this is kosher.

It's a kosher restaurant.

To them, not to me.

How's the hotel?

- Fine.
- Good.

So I know that we agreed
that you select the program,

but there are a few things

- that we need to go over.
- Such as?

Uh, that it won't include
"Doe, a deer, a female deer."

And that if you make
a fool of me, I will kill you.

Or I will.

So at the very least...

how long is the program?

How long was the original?

MARTIN:
The '51 program?

- You're doing the '51 program?
- Isn't that what you wanted?

No, no, that's...

[STAMMERS]

First part orchestral, Bruch.
Second part, solo.

Does it matter? He isn't
gonna be there, are you, David?

How's it going?

Still warm.

Want to feel?

You won't let me down, Dov?

No, Mottl.

I won't let you down.

Sorry, Mr. Simmonds.

[ORCHESTRA TUNING]

[PEOPLE CHATTERING]

[ORCHESTRA CONTINUES TUNING]

[ORCHESTRA QUIETS]

It's the same freaking
nightmare. Where is he?

If I had to guess, on his way
to join a Tibetan monastery.

Did you think I wasn't coming?

[DOOR CLOSES]

[SIGHS]

[AUDIENCE MURMURING]

[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]

Good evening.

I hope you didn't mind
waiting 35 years.

[SCATTERED LAUGHS
FROM AUDIENCE]

[TIMPANI BEGINS BRUCH'S
"VIOLIN CONCERTO NO. 1"]

[OTHER INSTRUMENTS
BEGIN PLAYING]

[PLAYING SOLO]

[ORCHESTRA RESUMES PLAYING]

Thank God.

[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]

He can still play.
I'll give him that.

Yeah.

[AUDIENCE MURMURING]

- It was good.
- It was crap.

Yeah, it was good crap though.

Wait 15 minutes.

Is it me, or is he being
just a little too compliant?

[CHATTERING]

[CHATTER QUIETS]

Oh, God.

[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]

[APPLAUSE STOPS]

[PLAYING "SONG OF NAMES"]

[PLAYING "SONG OF NAMES"]

[PLAYING "SONG OF NAMES"]

[IN YIDDISH]
♪ Rapoport Anya from Warsaw ♪

♪ Rapoport Bella
With children ♪

♪ With Reuben and Rifke
From Warsaw ♪

♪ Rapoport Zygmunt ♪

♪ Wife Esther ♪

♪ With daughter Pessia ♪

♪ With daughter Malkeh ♪

[WIND RUSTLING]

[AUDIENCE APPLAUDING]

[AUDIENCE CHEERING LOUDLY]

[APPLAUSE CONTINUES]

DOVIDL:
My dearest Mottl,

you'll remember
how I was forbidden

to say Kaddish for my family

until their deaths
were confirmed

and the anguish this caused me.

It saddened me
more than I can say

to learn from you
that my disappearance

had caused that same anguish
in your father.

For this, I am truly sorry.

And above all things,

this time, I want you
to be spared that.

Two months ago,
when you found me,

I told you I no longer lived
a life you would recognize.

I no longer thought of myself
as an individual,

which an artist
is required to be.

I chose instead
to submerge myself

within a community of faith...

a body sharing
a common history,

common values
and a common memory,

to which the price of admission
is the surrender of self.

[SIGHS]

What you did, Mottl,

was return to me
my individuality.

You thrust it back into
my hands like an unwanted gift.

I consider
all debts paid today.

You have made me free,
and for that, I thank you.

[RINGING]

But from the depths of my soul,

I must ask you
not to find me again.

You must think of me now
as dead and act accordingly.

May the Holy One bless you

and keep you and your family
always at his side.

Your affectionate brother,
Dovidl.

[RINGING]

Let him go, Martin.

How am I supposed
to think of him as dead

- when I know he's not?
- Why, he's given you permission.

Probably the only
selfless thing he ever did.

What's that prayer
Jews say for the dead?

- The Kaddish.
- Well, say that.

I can't. I'm not Jewish,
I'm not his brother

and I know he's not dead.

That day he didn't show up...

when you left him
after the rehearsal

and nobody knew
where he went...

I'm where he went.

He was with me.

You're a better man than he is,
Martin. You always were.

[EXHALES SHARPLY]

[MARTIN RECITING KADDISH
IN YIDDISH]

[VIOLIN PLAYING
"SONG OF NAMES"]

[CONTINUES RECITING KADDISH]

[♪♪♪]

Subtitles by explosiveskull
www.OpenSubtitles.org

[♪♪♪]

[♪♪♪]