Original subtitles

You can't be here.

- You're dead. - Yes.

I'm a prototype.

Tomas isn't dead. Are you going to answer him?

After twenty years. He could be married with children.

You don't know a thing about his life. It's not too late.

Journalism wasn't a job for him, it was a vocation.

If you think I'll leave Adam for a ghost,

you're completely mistaken.

I wanted to warn you, I think Adam is suspicious.

- What? - Who are you with?

No one.

There, look! Jürgen Knapp.

Yes, Knapp, his best friend.

Let's play him a visit.

Julia Saurel.

Tell them that I'm...

away all week.

Mr Ullmann for you.

Hello, Jürgen.

You're going to Somalia.

Finally!

What are we doing here?

What's the point of all this?

To remind me that I picked a good time to die.

Come here!

What's wrong?

I think I recognise that guy. He works for the Stasi.

You see?

They tossed away their uniforms...

and lost their authority,

but not their arrogance.

Those bastards have blended into Berlin.

Since the wall went down,

those scumbags have reinvented a past for themselves,

and are pursuing their careers with total impunity,

quietly waiting for their crimes to be forgotten.

I can't just stay here and pretend nothing happened.

They have to pay.

Stasi!

Out!

Out, out!

ALL THOSE THINGS WE NEVER SAID

New jacket? From the West?

Give me a break.

The Wall cast a shadow on the West too, you know?

But on my side

it was an open-air prison.

Thanks.

I'm sorry.

I haven't forgotten what...

Forget it! One of us had to stay,

so that the other could escape.

We flipped a coin for it.

And I lost.

It could have gone either way.

Anyway, I couldn't have left my grandmother behind.

How did you cope all this time?

I couldn't have.

Thanks.

It's not like I had a choice.

How many people collaborated with the regime?

Thirty percent, maybe more.

How do you know?

Were you working for the Stasi?

- I was joking. - What the hell!

It was just a joke.

Calm down.

There! That's Knapp, I'm sure of it!

Yes, Sir.

It's an exhibition put on by Der Berliner,

at the Stiftung Brandenburger.

I can get you tickets for tomorrow.

In the next fifteen minutes?

Um, yes, of course.

I'll call you back immediately, Mr Saurel.

Shit!

Here we go again!

How can I thank you? It's an exquisite dress.

You're doing its designer a great service.

It suits you more than it does the countess.

But please, no stains!

My dear Hans, you're still the best.

I'm getting old, Mr Saurel.

Then keep getting old for as long as possible.

And why shouldn't I see that you feel good with me?

Men who compensate for their loneliness

with affairs and no commitment,

who utter loving words but never words of love,

dread seeing the look one day.

So what is this look?

The sparkle in our eyes which reveals to you

how much we yearn for stupid things.

Like what?

Like making holiday plans.

Or making any plans at all together.

And God forbid we should glance at a pushchair in the street.

Then it really is game over!

I see. And would I find that look behind those glasses?

How presumptuous you are!

My eyes are sore, that's all.

Why are you telling me all this?

When were you planning to tell me you were leaving?

Now or after another beer?

Who says I'm having another?

We've been working together for two years.

I've observed your behaviour.

Okay, I'm leaving tomorrow.

But for your information, I only just found out.

Will you stay in Berlin long?

Knapp wants me to go straight to Mogadishu.

Now he just snaps his fingers and you jump, like his dog?

The news waits for no one. We've waited long enough.

He was the one making you wait, and now you're doing him a favour.

You're helping his career, but don't need him to win any prizes.

Where are you going with this, other than having a go at Knapp?

Keep pushing away the people who love you!

Tell Knapp you don't send someone to Somalia

without letting him go home first,

if only to kiss his loved ones goodbye.

Especially if he doesn't know when he'll be back.

You know what?

You're absolutely right.

What are you doing?

Texting Knapp to tell him I'm going back to Berlin.

I'll believe it when you've sent it.

Darling, I hope you're well.

I have lots to tell you if you come back one day.

It should be clear once we get past this.

Then it's not much further.

Look, I can't have dinner with you every night.

I have a life, you know.

You must have friends.

At least one.

- Then rent one. - Yeah. But it's not the same.

When I'm with you I feel close to Julia.

Fine.

But this is the last time.

To celebrate my newfound freedom, this one is on me.

Order anything you like.

- I'm not hungry. - Even better.

Oh please cheer up,

you're going to give me the blues!

"Women is as wavering as the wind.

"He is a fool who trusts her."

- What? - François I said that.

I first met Julia

on Place François I.

She was on her bike and...

Did anything happen between you two on Place Victor Hugo?

No, why?

Because "Tomorrow, at dawn, when the land whitens, I will leave."

Stop it, I'm a nobody!

Look at that!

The nerve!

He told me it was a one of a kind!

Who?

Von Stauffeur, the couturier!

Come here, Jacques.

Come and look at this.

It looks wonderful on you. Congratulate Von Stauffeur for me.

Thank you.

Hey, Julia!

If I'd known you were on the guest list I'd have come to welcome you.

Did you get the message from your office?

I've come straight from the airport.

You're a terrible liar. And I'm telling you as a pro.

Look, I hadn't heard from you in 20 years.

How was I to know it was you?

Eighteen years.

Do you know a lot of people called Julia Saurel?

I'd forgotten your surname. I didn't make the connection.

As the international news editor

I get assailed every day by losers trying to sell me "amazing" stories.

I have to filter.

Really?

Well, what are you doing in Berlin?

Tomas could have taken that photo.

But Tomas isn't a journalist any more.

And he left Germany a long time ago.

Where does he live now?

In Spain, with his wife.

We've lost touch, unfortunately.

Did you fall out?

No, not at all.

I did everything I could to help him,

opened doors at the newspaper,

put him onto stories, really big ones...

but Afghanistan broke him.

He wasn't the same man.

But I suppose you knew all that.

No, I didn't know anything.

He and his wife have a restaurant.

Hard to believe. He only ate out of necessity.

Yes, who'd have imagined that?

Still,

he's happy.

That's what counts, right?

Now if you'll excuse me. There are other guests.

If you come again, give me some warning

and we'll have lunch. Yeah?

Are you here for work?

Goodbye, Knapp.

You've changed a lot.

It's amazing, this talent you have for being here...

without being here at all.

Are you decent?

Yes, come in.

Was the evening everything you hoped for?

To tell you the truth, I don't really know what I was hoping for.

Or even what I was looking for.

I see.

This trip, this hotel, Berlin,

all this agitation... What's the point?

I don't know what's upsetting you, and it's none of my business,

but your father could be a great comfort to you.

You seem very close.

Close?

In how we tear apart lives, yes!

My father has many talents,

but listening is not one of them.

Allow me to say that this surprises me.

The gentleman I've had the pleasure of serving on many occasions

has always been extremely kind.

Yes, but always with others.

It was different for me.

Reserve often conceals feelings.

I can tell you that whenever he stayed here

he would talk to me about you with stars in his eyes.

He never missed an occasion to sing your praises.

I remember one particular evening,

when your father, after having tasted

all the vintage cognacs,

kept saying, to whoever lent an ear:

"My daughter...

"is my only true achievement."

Given what an empire your father has built,

if he considers you his only true achievement,

you must be really...

extraordinary.

Extraordinary, yeah.

And yet,

from a certain point of view,

my life is in extraordinary shambles.

A relationship falling to pieces, lying all the time,

my work is in limbo, and all thanks to him.

Extraordinarily messed up, don't you think?

And I'm just as responsible as he is.

All I had to do was not listen to him.

Well, I'd better get back to him.

He must be sleeping, he was very tired when I left.

He must have perked up since then.

I only just sent up a dinner tray.

My father ordered food?

Thank you.

This is for you.

I thought you'd be hungry when you got back.

I saw you on television.

You looked divine in that dress.

Elegance really suits you.

I'm sorry for not accompanying you,

I'd have been so proud by your side.

Did you manage to talk to Knapp?

Yes, I was right, Tomas is married.

And you were right, he's no longer a journalist.

And you're sad that he gave up journalism.

In any case, thanks for the food.

Oh, that's no big deal.

FIFTH DAY

Two things.

The first is, you're naked.

And what I like may not necessarily be to the liking of my neighbours.

And the second?

We're out of coffee.

That is a problem.

Are you sulking because I'm going away?

I know what I love about you, Tomas.

You're always so spot on!

Thank you.

How about not ruining this morning?

Of course, fine!

We'll act as if everything's okay. Eat your croissant,

we'll go back up, screw, have a nice shower,

you'll pack your bag, we'll kiss,

and then you'll disappear for two or three months or forever.

Come with me to Berlin.

I work at the Madrid press office.

Spend the night at my place, then come back.

We'll say goodbye in the airport.

Saying goodbye in the airport?

It wouldn't hurt your career to show yourself at the paper.

Drink your coffee while it's hot.

Thank you.

- Bring me your toiletry bag. - Why?

So I can put it in your suitcase.

I can do my own packing.

Yes, but badly.

And I won't be there in Somalia to iron your clothes.

- Have you ever done that for me? - No.

But I could have.

Have you decided?

Whether to dump you today or tomorrow?

You've won a one-day reprieve.

I'll take your advice and remind our future boss that I exist.

But it has nothing to do with you going to Berlin.

It's just a coincidence.

Thank your lucky stars you're getting another night with me.

Thank you.

I was afraid the regime would close its doors, trapping you there.

Afraid we'd be separated forever,

not by your own choice,

but because a dictatorship had imposed it on us.

You can go on blaming me until the day you die.

I take full responsibility.

Subtitling TITRAFILM