All language subtitles for Vermischte Nachrichten (Alexander Kluge, 1986).en

Dedicated to Hans Dieter M�ller

"Many a time

have they afflicted me from my youth:

yet they have not

prevailed against me. " Psalm 129, 2

Miscellaneous News. A film by...

It's said that if a child squints
when the clock strikes 12,

his eyes will remain fixed forever.

The child did his best.

His eyes do not remain fixed forever.

Christmas Eve, 1954.

4 murders, 2 cases of manslaughter
and one death in self-defense.

Good evening. I' m Sabina T rooger
and here is tonight's program.

Miscellaneous News...

Miscellaneous News

... Each of you in your own position

have rendered outstanding services
to the Bundeswehr.

The 30th anniversary
of the Bundeswehr.

I can't tell you, you'd have to ask
him. All I can say is, that one

and this one belong
to the same decoration family.

The Order of the FRG. An order
of the Spanish Navy, the white one.

The Victoria Cross from Britain.
They all have a name. - Please go on.

This one's from Luxembourg,
the "Adolf von Nassau."

Commander of the Order
of the Lion of Finland.

This is the "Commendatore
della Repubblica ltaliana."

They've all got their own name.

I think all these decorations
are Portuguese but the last one,

which is Brazilian.

The four first...

The two first are for
Distinguished Service, in the field.

The other two are for Distinguished
Service, but in peace time.

He reached the age of 50.

U.S. President Roosevelt
had blue eyes.

The French ambassador

and his attach�s

building an air raid shelter near
the Berlin embassy. A symbolic threat.

When French planes destroy Berlin,
the ambassador will be back in France.

A girl and her father in a car.
She brakes. "That's wonderful, Papa,

there's Gert. Now you can meet him. "
And so, Papa meets Gert.

But something

about the good-looking young man makes
the experienced parent suspicious.

"Who 's this?" he asks an officer at
the Reich 's Fraud Information Center,

and shows him a picture
belonging to his daughter.

This photo
was giving by private teacher

Gert von Something to his bride-to-be.

This photo was found by the officer
in the criminal archives.

"It's a good thing you came. The man 's
an impostor. We'll stay on the case. "

The wanted poster and the lies he told
the girl, who still believes in him,

Iead to a bitter end:
He's arrested by her side.

The summer of 1939. The spring
of 1939 : the Olympics Games are over.

We're bursting with energy.
Miscellaneous News.

Countess Bissingen and
the daughter of the Hungarian envoy.

Colonel von Farkacs and
Princess Louise von Saxony-Meiningen

are organizing the private concert.

Colonel-General von Seeckt and lady
of the house Marta Linz von Kriegner.

Dr. Alfredo Stendardo
and Constanca, n�e Savignano.

An Italian-style wedding in Berlin.

The world is in danger.

Gdansk and the corridor are at stake.

Gamelin, French commander-in-chief,

on his way to London
for alliance talks.

The song hits of the spring of 1939 :

"This is unique,
it'll never happen again. "

"There's a stork's nest
on the world's rooftop. "

"In a hundred years
there'll be a spring like this. "

She goes to town to have an abortion.

After the slave trade was abolished
1 00 years ago, and in the 1950s

the last African colonies
were granted independence,

the pimps of Marseille and Paris

started bringing more
West African women to Europe.

They work at dumping prices
and are kept like slaves by men

whom the tribal elders back home
called trustworthy.

The passports are the problem.

One can get an E.C. passport
through marriage. Here's the story of

"Max the waiter."

I'm Max the waiter.
I have a clear picture of my future.

I've got a lucky eye for women
and, what's more, I own a passport.

These are my assets
as of December 31 st of this year.

It is a momentous and solemn occasion
that brings you here today.

You want to be married and start out
on the path through life together.

You want to give each other, and be
for each other, a purpose in life.

Always remember that respect
and trust, but also friendship,

are the best means to help each other
in coping with life's difficulties.

Never forget
that none of us is without fault.

Always believe
in your partner's good qualities.

Should you succeed
in respecting each other's values,

and conquering each other's weaknesses
and needs, then you will have become

true partners in marriage.

What happens now?
- He will ask you

to answer with Yes or No.

That leaves me to say that the legal
requirements for this marriage

have all been fulfilled,

and to ask you and your witnesses
to please rise.

Mr. Schmitt, do you wish to take
Miss Fasassi in marriage? - I do.

And, Miss Fasassi, I would like
to pose the same question to you:

do you wish to take Mr. Schmitt
in marriage of your own free will?

I do.

Since it is
the declared will of you both

to enter into this marriage,

you are now joined in matrimony

and, by the power vested in me,
I now pronounce you man and wife.

Thank you.

TO THE MARRlAGE HALLS...

5,000 marks for a marriage.
It'll go into the money box.

It is not really the idea that
the married couple ever meet again.

Max is careless. He wants to see
the woman one more time.

Hello.

If there's to be no wedding night, at
least let's have a wedding breakfast.

Waitress!
- Coming.

May I offer you a "Chocolate Kiss?"

Your wedding present. Woolen gloves.

And a neglig�e.

Since you're my wife,
I could kiss you any time I want.

I'm your husband.

So we'll never meet again?

When I was six we went to the zoo
one day, my mother, my father

and 8 brothers and sisters.
I was in awe. My father kept saying,

"Max, keep moving!"...
My mother said, "Max, leave the boy.

Stop going... at him! Let him enjoy
the birds... and the bears..."

Me, Max, I saw the bear, the birds
and my father going... and thought

"Enough! I want to be myself!" Mother
was very supportive, so I said, "No!"

He thinks,
"She's a chieftain's daughter. "

He takes some money from the box.
He wants to see his wife again.

The 4th hour of the night. The woman
can feel her circulation collapsing.

Only yesterday her children had
called her a very youthful person.

Now, at 4 in the morning, she
can't believe she'll make it till 7.

For you.

Can you hear me? Hello!

Relax.

The pulse is weak.

Pupils?

Slow to react.

Can't measure her blood pressure.
To the intensive care unit. Hurry!

Sunrise. It's her last day.
She was always a successful person.

She's made it to this stage
of her life. It's 7 in the morning.

The son defends the mother

They are deadly enemies.

This man is violent.

She cannot allow herself
to be humiliated in public.

Addi!

The son rarely sees his mother.

A bereavement at the wrong time...

White won't do! - It's all I had.
And I'm wearing the armband.

That's not an armband, it's just...
- Where am to I get an armband?

Just put on something black.
- Claudia, come over here.

Come here. - This maybe?
- No. Claudia, take your clothes off.

This would do. - No, you can wear
something like that, but I can't.

Here are black tights.
- I can't handle this, I know it!

We won't... They're far too big!
Claudia, come on.

Hurry, I need black tights.
Ones that fit me!

Black tights that fit!
I can't cope, it's all too late.

Yeah, yeah..

Maybe it will work out. - Hurry up.
- Alright! I have to put my tights on!

Still. We'll manage.
- You're driving me mad.

His whole family always drove me mad.
I know why I never wanted to go there.

It's already 12 and we're not ready.

Give me a hand... - In a minute.
I'll have to undress, too.

It's all too late anyway.
Definitely too late.

Change everything back.
No, this just won't do.

It won't do.

What are you doing?
- It won't do! The other tights.

Please, you can... - Claudia,
the slip! I'm wearing my white dress.

You can't go to the funeral in a white
dress. - I'm not going to the funeral.

What?

Why not? - It's very sad, but there's
only one flight and I must catch it.

You wouldn't mind my not coming.
You for one wouldn't! - Well...

It's not about you lot.

You lot wouldn't mind my not going.
That's for certain.

You never minded when I wasn't there.
Where's that slip?

They're all black, you can't tell them
apart. - No, the skin-colored one!

You would've looked pretty in
the white dress and the black belt...

And your gold ear clips too, right?
I need the white skirt! Where is it?

Claudia, take the wreath.

You're paying for it!
- I already have.

You'll never catch that plane.
- Of course I will.

Listen, you will represent me?
You will, okay? - They will hardly...

Claudia, the flowers!
- You've dropped them! What a shame.

Please, represent me, please do!
- A shame... Yes.

It's a tragedy, but there's only
the one flight. Claudia, the flowers!

Please, represent me. All of you,
okay? - She really is leaving!

Yes, of course!
It's the only flight there is.

Happy are those

Who can forget

What cannot be changed...

Happy are those who can forget

What cannot be changed...

Getting ready for the funeral party.

This is more like New Year's Eve
than a funeral reception.

Right, excuse me.

Though the years slip by with haste

The memories remain

Sweet dreams never misplaced

Over your heart will reign

Even though all things seem to part

That today you thought fine

Remember all fairy tales start

With "Once upon a time"..

All year long
that was her favorite song.

But on New Year's Eve
she preferred the other one...

Nina Petrovna's lie

Czarist Russia.

A woman caught between two men.

She belongs to the one
and loves the other.

She died because of it.

She has to lie constantly.
Her husband thinks it charming.

A charming lie!

But she declares her true devotion
to the young lover.

She leaves the villa and her husband
and moves into poor quarters.

The lover, who wants to spoil the
young woman, tries cheating at cards.

The husband catches him at it.

Now the old man
controls the young lover.

He can blackmail him, or shoot him.

The woman has to save him: return
to the marriage and leave her lover.

For I love him...

But it requires another lie.

As long as he knows you love him,

he won't be able to give you up.

That will be his undoing.

The lover buys her a pair of shoes.
Cheap shoes for 7 rubles 50.

Here's a surprise...

She really likes the gift,

but in her role of savior,
she has to refuse the shoes.

It's nice of you to buy me some shoes,

but do you really think

I'd ever wear such common ones?

Especially now that I'm selling

what I freely gave to you.

Will you keep your word?

She enters the old man's home
as a doomed woman.

Tomorrow morning

I shall move back into your villa.

The poison...

She's wearing the shoes.

In a world of kitsch and strong
emotions Lenin, the Planner, dies.

Funeral ceremony in Red Square.

The Mausoleum, illuminated by night.

The Red Army
trains for chemical warfare,

that will not take place
the way they had trained for it.

We will now show you a film about the
visit of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt

to Erich Honecker in Werbellinsee.

A film by Volker Schl�ndorff.
Director of photography: Franz Rath.

Shortly before Christmas 1981 :
a time of geopolitical tensions.

It is clear that the old-style
"Ostpolitik" is coming to an end.

It is sad and highly dangerous.

We will show you this day in all
the tenacity television never shows.

We had made two earlier,
fruitless attempts.

We had actually agreed two years ago

for me to make a visit here.

But a critical world situation
prevented it:

the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Last summer we prepared
for this visit a second time.

But that time our concerns over the
developments in Poland prevented it.

So this is our third attempt and
thank God it has worked out this time.

One of the pushiest journalists, and
of the best. - That's the main thing.

It's quality that counts!

I see you've managed to get the
Secretary General off the red carpet.

And the Chancellor with him,
that's the main thing!

Welcome
to the German Democratic Republic!

Werbellinsee, Mark Brandenburg.
Fontane wrote:

"This place is like a fairy tale,
this place is the bank of Werbellin.

Magic is all around. "

What strikes me is that it gets dark
here earlier than with us.

The place is a bit further north,
of course. And further east, too.

But it's not colder here?
- No.

During the night
martial law was declared in Poland.

Dawn. The Chancellor holds
a press conference on GDR soil.

The Chancellor has a cold, has hardly
slept and is angry at the news.

The case's here on the left.
- Y es.

Ladies and Gentlemen, if l...

If the photographers
would be so kind as to allow me

to see the people I'm addressing?

Thank you.

If I were to...

... summarize the intensive and,
indeed, frank talks

I've been having
with the Secretary General of the SED

and Head of State of the GDR
Mr. Honecker, then I would say...

To summarize, I can say
that the talks, generally speaking,

have not only brought

an extra bit of predictability,

mutual

and reliable predictability,

to us,

the political leaders
of both German states,

but they have also

created a certain sense of trust.

This morning we have talked
about the latest developments

in the People's Republic of Poland.
And we both hope

that the Poles will succeed

in

getting

the two forces opposing each other

within the Polish people

to reach

some sort of agreement.

We both strictly adhere
to the principle of non-intervention.

I would like to stress once more:

regardless of whatever
government was in place in Poland,

we have always tried to support it
with loans from our private banks

that were in part state-guaranteed

and are costing our Minster of Finance
Mr. Matth�fer vast amounts of money.

Whatever government was in place,
we wanted to help Poland economically.

But this is now
very clearly approaching its limits.

G�STROW CHRlSTMAS FAlR

I can't see anything!

Where is he?

I can't see anything!

Goodbye. All the best.
- All the best.

Mr. Franke? - Sorry.
- My foreign minister.

Minister for intra-German relations
Franke says goodbye to Honecker.

GDR Foreign Minister Fischer and
GDR Ambassador in Bonn Ewald Moldt.

I wouldn't want to repeat that.

Everyone is pretty relaxed
now things are coming to an end,

and the train is about to depart.

Erich Honecker just said hello to an
employee of the East-German Railway.

Or was it Government Spokesman

Kurt Becker? No, it wasn't.

One might ask why the train isn't
leaving, I don't know, but now...

the whistle sounds!

All the best and best wishes for
the New Year. - Have a nice Christmas.

Mr. Franke, all the best.
- Bye, Mr. Honecker.

The two diesel engines
in front of the train

pull it out
of the G�strow train station.

Here you can see the restaurant car
in which the Chancellor

will shortly enjoy some refreshments.

These are the last images

of the G�strow train station,
and also the last images

of a live broadcast
coming from the middle of the GDR.

Something of a rarity
in broadcasting history.

This report will show you that waiters
hold their trays in the left hand,

Ieaving the right hand free.

That's only half-full. - The day
before yesterday I saw a waiter

who had the tray in his right hand.
- That's wrong. Unprofessional.

What's the right way?
- Left! - Always in the left hand.

I need my right hand, to help ladies
into their coat, or out of them.

Or if some lady hands me a plate,
I have to take it. - The reason is

I serve the guests their drinks
or their food from the right.

When people get a fright,
they usually jump to the left.

Mostly to the left.

That's why I serve from the right,
in case they haven't seen me coming.

People are right-hand minded.
All the shops are laid out that way.

Wherever they go, people first look
right. Things come from the right.

Anything from the left scares them.
- What's that go to do with waiters?

I don't want to scare a guest.
He wants to have his peace and quiet.

If he feels comfortable, he'll stay
longer and drink more. Spend more.

The danger is,
when I come from the left,

and the guest hasn't seen me coming,
he'll start in some kind of reflex

and knock the beer off my tray.
That's what might happen.

But not if you serve from the right.
At least not that often.

He knows we serve from the right.
- Could you show me

how one holds a tray?
- Like this.

Four fingers underneath. Like this.

To keep the balance. Heavy things on
the inside, light ones on the outside.

Saturday, April 26th, 1986, 10 p.m.

Between enemy lines

During the Battle of Stalingrad

a German soldier gets
in between enemy lines. He hesitates.

He could go west
and across the steppe to Germany,

or east, into town,
where the others are.

He decides to go into town.
He walks and walks...

He lands himself
in the Battle of Stalingrad.

After 60 days the battle is decided.
He seeks shelter

in the sewers.

One morning

the Russians fire into the sewers.

Lance Corporal Metzger
gets wounded in the foot.

Unguarded he walks into captivity
on a shoe dripping with blood.

Max the waiter, who used to be
a ladies' man, cannot forget his wife,

who only married him for his passport.

Max has spent the 5,000 marks from
his marriage on visits to his wife.

He follows her around.
He thinks he loves her, threatens her.

But she belongs to another man.

Feel this.

No. Never.

She won't be blackmailed.

Her daily service.

This is the man she belongs to.

This can't go on, Mr. Max.
It must be the 12th or 14th time

that we're having this discussion,
and always in front of the guests.

I'm sorry, I've tried to apologize.
- You're sorry?

When I'm 20 minutes late,
it's nothing to do with "womanizing!"

But you chase everything in a skirt!

That's what you always accuse me of.
- That's not the point. - But it is!

It is exactly the point! It's not
womanizing, it's about a single woman.

And this woman is my wife!

Cheers, Missus! - Getting fresh now,
too, eh? I don't believe it!

That's the damn limit!

This is... Mr. Max, at least
clean up your mess, will you?

This won't do!

She gives the money
to the man she belongs to.

This woman is destined to servitude.
She bears my name.

I've always paid her. And I love her!

What other attestations do I need?

I have no other friend left.

Not with me!
- I have no other friend left.

Still, not with me.
- With whom then?

Not with me.
- I need her right now.

It's not about what you need,
but what I'm prepared to do. - Do it.

It's an emergency.
- It isn't. - I need her right now.

How much?
- 15,000.

It's extremely dangerous.

With the stolen money
he buys his wife.

I wouldn't touch a scumbag like you.
- Thanks for the scumbag!

I won't leave. - Do as you please.
I'll go call my husband. - Who?

There's no point in arguing.
- I think there is!

No, it's over. The only thing
you can do now, is clean up this mess.

Danny, could you
come over here right now? Why?

I had to take insults from Max again.
He left his work, came back again

half an hour later, is throwing
glasses around and keeps insulting me.

I won't have it. Come over here, now.

Who knows what he'll do next,
so hurry up, okay?

I'll be back in 5 minutes.

She is gone.

When he imagines her as an African
princess, as he is likely doing now,

he gets dizzy,
because then he is rich.

Mrs. K�gelgen made it this time.
She managed to get to the hospital.

She must get to the apartment she'll
never see again to sort something out.

She's nervous.

The day she fell...

Yeah, so now
the dear woman is in the hospital.

If it weren't so sad, it'd be funny.
Every 2 or 3 days

some young doctor drops by,
asking us, the neighbors,

to see to her apartment.

We've been feeding the birds,
she so dearly loves.

She's always keen
to keep her home very tidy.

We've been asked to wash her curtains.

Always bearing in mind, that it's
probably all in vain, as the lady...

How shall I put it?

As the doctors tell me, she'll never
be able to live in this place again.

Lately we've all been, not exactly
nursing her, but watching her.

Her mind's still fit and she knows
everything, but she can't walk.

And when she makes herself
a cup of tea, she starts trembling,

or she stumbles
and has to pull herself up again.

What is it she wants?
What's she thinking?

She always wants to be by the window.

She told me she wants to go home
to move the furniture around.

Multiple sclerosis,

intention tremor,

ascending paralysis, staccato speech,

and all of them progressive.

She knows just what's wrong with her.
- But still she tries to get up

to get to a window. She told me
she wants to go home. One last time.

She has to move some furniture and
it's important she gets to her place.

Her last will

Doctor...

After all, you can't rule it out...

If worst comes to the worst, Doctor,

I would like the chairs

to be pushed into the corner
on the right for the winter.

The roses should be
put onto the dressing table.

What sort of roses, Mrs. K�gelgen?

Christmas roses?

Proper roses.

2.75 a bunch.

If worst comes to the worst, Doctor,
Gerda has to be informed.

Her number is Hagen 53926.

I leave to Gerda

"The Fountain of Knowledge."

And the picture on the left.

The typewriter is too old.

My son... That's no use.

I...

I'll hold out for 3 more weeks.

When the

worst come to the worst, Doctor,
and it's all over

I'd like everything
to stay the way it is

until November 6th,

the day of my husband's death.

Let everything be the way it is.

Until it's all over.

St. Nicholas' Day

The day that hit her hard

Nurse!

Nurse?

Doctor's round

Good morning, Mrs. K�gelgen.

Doctor.

How are you today?

Well...

May I have a look at your feet?

New Year's Eve!

Two brothers

There once were two brothers.

Every time an engine broke down while
marching west or east to Stalingrad

they would repair it.

There wasn 't anything with an engine
they couldn 't fix.

And so in August 1942
they reached the Volga.

It is reported that in the final
stage of the battle for Stalingrad,

when the Soviet troops
had already broken the encirclement,

there was an outbreak of cannibalism

among remaining German troops hiding
in the cellars. One report says:

"They looked for newly dead, who were
not yet cold and better for eating.

Finally they formed groups

to overcome any opposition.
They practiced euthanasia.

Officers from some units
came together in anti-cannibal groups,

armed with crowbars and hammers,
to kill any cannibal they found.

Day and night
scouts looked for the tell-tale fires

on which the cannibals
prepared their meals."

The brothers had agreed
never to desert each other.

If one of them was to die,
the other would protect and bury him.

This is the time to keep that promise.
For a few hours now

one of the brothers has been dead.

Comrade, l' m giving you the explicit
order to hand over the dead man.

We only want to bury him.
We only want to bury your brother.

In a simple grave.

Visitors come during the night.
They say, "We only want to bury him. "

"We only want a piece of him. "

A leg or a thigh...

They keep trying

to persuade him, hoping he will
get tired from having to answer.

The brother protects the brother.
He is tired.

The next morning the brother
was no longer where he used to be.

Rudolf Steiner wrote that man's astral
soul stops growing after the age of 3:

"Children grow up into adults.
Something within them,

originating from distant stars,
comes to a standstill."

Summer 1986

Wind

Time passes, the world turns

The whirlwind of life
Is what I love

I never see the day
Just the lights by night

I'm always there

Where people drink, where they laugh

Never alone, nowhere at home

The dance goes on
Day in and day out

And sometimes
Reality disappears...

Eyes front!

Eyes...

right!

Secretary General of NATO
Lord Carrington arrives

at the German Ministry of Defense.

Emergency luggage

Family register

Car registration

Post office savings book

According to the guidelines
a transistor radio should be part

of any air raid shelter's equipment.

It is important to wire the aerial,
useless in a cellar, to the banisters

and fix it with a clamp.

The radio

will allow citizens to hear the advice

of the
radiation protection commission.

I see my image

From another time

The apple tree

Frail white dream

Of times past

Silent summer breeze

A mild scent of flowers

Beyond time and space

In the twilight

And the world

Was young

With a film contribution
by Volker Schl�ndorff

Subtitles

Film und Video Untertitelung
Gerhard Lehmann AG