Original subtitles

Subtitles: Lu�s Filipe Bernardes

Now we're coming into the cooling and casting room

As you can see the three upper three furnaces

the first one, the second and the third over there

are constantly in service.

The other furnaces can be fired up when required...

You will have no direct contact with Herr Hoffmeister, our director general

And you are never to disturb him for any reason whatsoever.

Is that quite clear, Herr Zeitz?

This is his office.

And this is your office.

Friedrich Zeitz, Herr Hoffmeister.

Oh, yes, the new boy...

with the first in engineering.

From Freiburg University.

I majored in metallurgical chemistry.

Aren't you rather late for work?

Yes.

I mean, no.

I have all the time in the world.

Well, I haven't.

Frau Hoffmeister is a stickler for punctuality. Soup is in the plates at 7:30.

I abhor soup.

Hey, Fritz. Where's my kiss?

You call that a kiss?

No time, Anna. I'm too busy.

You're always too busy.

Your washing's dry but I've got to iron it.

I'll bring it up with your soup.

I abhor soup.

Do you? That's new.

Yes, it is.

The board was very impressed by your report on the raw materials to output ratio.

We've decided... I've decided to widen your responsibilities.

You'll start by supervising the order for parts

for the D�sseldorf railway bridge.

You'll be very comfortable in here.

If you need to consult me,

don't hesitate.

My door will be always open to you.

Found it?

Almost.

It's such a mountain of files.

My father's father started the foundry in...

... in 1835.

Exactly.

Then the boom came with the demand for railway tracks.

For the first main line from Dresden to Leipzig in 1839.

Is there anything you don't know?

Oh, yes, Herr Hoffmeister.

I still have much to learn.

Are you all right, sir?

Shall I call the doctor?

I have...

a quite serious health condition.

But nobody here at the plant must know of it.

Nobody!

Friedrich Zeitz. Herr Hoffmeister is expecting me.

My doctor has confined me to the house

until further notice.

I can probably run the steelworks by telephone, so...

I've decided to give you a new job.

Me?

Yes.

I want you to report to me here, once a day,

to discuss current business

and then to relay my instructions back to the works.

What do you say?

Stop here, please.

The manufacture of 328 girders should be subject to a 40% deposit,

not 33%, as mistakenly stated in the contract.

Incidentally...

For six days this furnace has been out of line.

A hairline crack in the reservoir must be between the sixth and the seventh.

That's why this furnace and this one here are still not operational.

Could you please type out two copies of the engineer's meeting?

Herr Hoffmeister wants to add his own notes before distributing it to the factory.

I'll take a copy from my desk.

... it follows that renovating the foundry will cut budget costs

and double the output to 12 tons per year...

That's enough for today.

Come on.

Herr Zeitz!

I'm Frau Hoffmeister.

Herr Hoffmeister's wife?

Of course.

I'm not his mother.

So we meet at last.

My husband has told me a lot about you.

I was just about to take some tea. Would you like to join me?

It's very kind of you, but...

I'm already late. Another time, perhaps.

Goodbye, Herr... Frau Hoffmeister.

Music means more to me than anything in the world.

Except my husband and son, of course.

Oh, no, thank you. I'll do it.

Milk?

Thank you.

Yes, thank you or no, thank you?

Yes... no... It's perfect.

Somebody once said, I can't remember who, but...

that music can exist without the world, but

the world cannot exist without music.

I believe it was Goethe.

Yes.

So you enjoy literature, then, Herr Zeitz.

To be honest I mostly read science books.

Tea is really very nice.

You've never tasted tea before?

No, it's the first time.

Well, enough about me. Tell me about yourself.

I'm afraid there's nothing to tell.

No, surely you must have a family.

I never knew my father. My mother died when I was very young.

Who brought you up?

I was a ward of state.

You certainly did brilliantly in school.

Well, I had to. It was my only hope. Literally my only hope.

Have you found somewhere nice to live?

Very nice, thank you.

My husband commissioned it.

I hated sitting for it, and I think it shows, doesn't it?

That's a very pretty...

Hm, isn't it beautiful?

I saw it in a shop window and fell in love with it.

My husband thinks it's ghastly.

More tea?

No, thank you. I should be getting back to the office.

Yes, of course. What time is it? Otto will be home soon.

Otto, he's our son. You haven't met him yet.

No.

He's a very bouncy, very happy boy, but...

he doesn't really apply himself in school.

It occurs to me...

I did some tutoring when I was a student.

If you like, I could give your son some extra lessons.

When do you have time for that?

Oh, I can make time.

Don't let me disturb you. I left my newspaper somewhere.

So how do you find our young friend?

You'll never guess what he just offered.

No idea.

He's offered to give Otto extra lessons.

Well!

You'll soon have the whole family under your wing.

It's easy. Come on, try.

See? You've got it in you.

Now let's practice your French.

French is a beautiful language.

No, it's not. Mother makes me learn it.

But I hate it.

Try reading me this fable.

The Wolf and the Dog.

A prowling wolf, whose shaggy skin Hid little but his bones,

So strict the watch of dogs had been

Once met a mastiff dog astray.

A prouder, fatter, sleeker Tray,

Sir Wolf in famish'd plight, Would fain have made a ration upon his fat relation

But then he first must fight;

And well the dog seem'd able To save from wolfish table his carcass snug and tight.

So, then, in civil conversation The wolf express'd his admiration of Tray's fine case.

Said Tray, politely, 'Yourself, good sir, may be as sightly;

A penny for your thoughts, Fritzi.

Stop calling me that.

If you say so, Fritzi.

Not now.

Why not?

I've got an important job to finish for tomorrow.

Are you sure there's no other reason?

No. Like what?

Like what?

Like who? Like what?

Like who? Like what...

Karl, please. It would make him so happy.

I told him he must wait until Christmas.

I know. But he got such good marks in his exams.

Thanks to our friend here.

Hm?

Hm.

How expensive is this train set, anyway?

Ohhh...

very well.

Good. I'll leave you two to get on with your work.

How can one resist?

Hm?

I bet you can't play trains and recite fourth declension nouns at the same time.

Dominus, domina, domino...

Dominum.

Dominum, domini, domino.

Domini, dominii, domina, dominis, dominorum, domines.

Very good. Again.

Singular. Dominus, domina, dominum, domini, domino.

Plural. Dominii, dominii, dominos, dominorum, domines.

Singular. Dominus, domina, dominum, domini, domino.

Plural. Dominii, domini, dominos, dominorum, domines.

Singular. Dominus, domina,

Here, this is for you.

What is it?

It's to say thank you for your kind work with Otto.

I can't accept it.

No, but you must. The labor is worthy of its hirer.

You don't understand. I don't want money from you.

Wait.

I was tactless earlier today.

I do hope that I didn't offend you.

No.

Here.

By way of an apology I'd hope that you would stay to dinner with us...

sometime, even this evening. if you're free.

I'm terribly sorry. I have an engagement.

As Germans, we know our industrial strengths.

But you know our weaknesses.

I'm sure you're going to tell me. Raw materials. That's what we lack.

Take your steelworks.

Every year 1/3 of its budget gets spent on manganese ore.

And the price keeps going up, as you know...

Can't we just use less manganese?

Out of the question. It's a key ingredient in metal alloys.

So what are you getting at?

What I'm getting at...

is highly confidential.

Vast deposits of manganese have been discovered in Mexico.

Enough to keep your steelworks running for decades.

It's highly confidential, but you know about it.

Yes, a fellow student from Freiburg, now working in Veracruz,

tipped me the wink.

We've got to get in there first.

Form a consortium, buy up the land,

secure the mining rights, dig up that ore.

We're a long way from Mexico.

This is the twentieth century.

The age of speed and new horizons...

the world is ours for the asking. All we have to...

Just a second.

I always find it strangely moving when she plays this piece of music.

It's very affecting, don't you think?

Yes.

You were saying?

I do find it very affecting.

No. About Mexico.

I'm sorry.

I was saying...

We must take this golden opportunity.

Why would Mexico bring in a German steelmaker

when they have Americans on their doorstep?

Why?

Because...

You know this revolution they've had, Pancho Villa, Zapata?

Yes, it's been in the papers.

German military devices played a crucial role.

Yes.

Mexican leadership wants to blunt North America's influence

by attracting investment from Europe.

The door is wide open.

How much would we have to invest to get started?

Hello.

Yes, mam?

Does Herr Friedrich Zeitz live here?

He's out at work.

Yes, I know, I was just, um...

I was wondering if I could see his apartment.

His apartment?

It's up there. The top floor.

Who are you?

Nobody.

The landlady.

Beg your pardon, mam, I had no idea.

Top floor, room 14. I'll see you up.

Oh, don't bother. Just give me the key.

Should I give him a message?

Yes. Don't tell him I was here.

Private secretary?

I'm not sure I'm up to the job.

Yes, you are. You're young but you have all the right qualities.

Who else do we have to thank for our new venture in Mexico?

Herr Hoffmeister, I can't tell you how honored I am by the trust you...

I've one small condition to ask but it needn't detain us.

It would be better if you left your present lodgings...

and moved in here.

It would be more convenient in every respect.

I take your point, but...

What's putting you at the thought off moving in here?

You'll be better off here than up in your garret.

Did I tell you I lived in a garret?

Yes.

Didn't you?

Herr Zeitz!

My husband's told me what he's asked.

And I understand that you have some reservations.

Can I ask you what they are?

I've been given board and lodging by employers in the past...

But my husband is not offering you a servant's position.

I...

cherish my independence.

Of course. I can well understand how important that is...

for a young man to be independent.

Is that your only reason?

Speaking for myself, I will do everything that I can to make your stay as comfortable as possible.

Thank you, I'm sure, but...

Oh, no. Thank you for accepting.

We'll expect you tomorrow. I'll send Hans to bring your belongings.

I can't not go. My job depends upon it.

I'll come back here as soon as I can. I promise.

Don't.

Please.

Not now.

As you can see there's enough room for everyone to feel comfortable.

Those are the servants' stairs.

No, your room's here.

And ours is just down the hall.

So please tell me if you're not completely comfortable.

You're my husband's assistant and I'm his wife.

Let's agree to be frank with each other.

Agreed.

Dinner's at 7:30. My husband's a stickler for punctuality.

He likes his soup served on the dot.

Yes, Frau Hoffmeister.

Charlotte, though people call me Lotte.

Is your room adequate?

Impeccable. Thank you, sir.

Pleasant autumn we're having.

Yes, a blaze of color.

I'm so sorry I was late. I was with Otto.

You haven't met? Let me introduce you.

Herr Zeitz, my husband Karl. Karl, Herr Zeitz.

...and it rears at every single jump.

So eventually I asked the riding master for a quieter horse

and he says to me:

Madam, a horse is like a mirror.

It reflects everything you fear,

or dare to do.

So if your horse refuses a fence,

it is you who are not ready for it.

It sounds like that Viennese doctor that claims he can read your thoughts

by listening to your dreams. What's his name again?

As if you didn't know.

My husband loves to play the village idiot.

I'm turning in.

See you shortly, my dear.

And you tomorrow.

Yes, sir. See you tomorrow.

Thank you, Meg. You can leave it.

My husband never eats dessert.

And always retires to bed at a quarter to nine.

Every night?

Yes, Except for New Year's Eve.

I knew nothing of life before I met Karl.

I was engaged to be married to a childhood friend...

in the town that I grew up.

But he died in a mountaineering accident and...

Karl was a friend of my parents'.

He helped me through the ordeal,

gave me a shoulder to cry on.

Why are you telling me this?

Well, because I presume you're surprised that my husband is not younger.

No.

Here.

Sorry.

What do you think of it?

It is a fine portrait of you.

But unfaithful.

Unfaithful?

Yes. It's like a mask.

Smooth and superficial

and shows nothing of who you are... deep down.

Time for bed, I think, don't you?

Uh, no, I'll stay down here awhile.

I'll try and do some more of your puzzle.

You'll find your own way to your room? Yes, Frau Hoffmeister.

Lotte! Good night, Friedrich.

Good night, Lotte.

...by replacing this third furnace here...

... we will most likely be able to extract similar minerals such as copper and nickel,

and reasonably expect a return of around 115 % in the first year...

Is Madame Lotte at home?

I don't know, sir.

Holland, Amsterdam. Greece, Athens, Serbia, Belgrade...

Switzerland, Bern, Belgium, Brussels, Denmark, Copenhagen,

Finland, Helsinki, Portugal, Lisbon, England, London...

Father wouldn't let me learn the piano.

He made me learn fencing instead.

He said it would be of more use to me when I grow up.

What for?

For fighting Jews or people who dishonor my wife.

Or my mother.

A rat! A mouse!

It just ran under there...

Where is it?

It's a horrible thing with a big fat face. I see it!

Quick! It's up...

No Otto! Don't.

Thank you.

The bankers in Frankfurt are interested in the project.

They're waiting to see our investment plan.

What will you do with your Sunday?

I don't know. Probably go to the caf�...

play a few rounds of billiards with some friends.

Chase the girls.

Do you have a sweetheart?

I'd rather not talk about it.

Ah...

A secret fianc�.

So I'll see you at lunch then.

Frau Hoffmeister.

She wouldn't miss the ten o'clock service if the world was on fire.

Don't you accompany her?

I don't have time for that humbug.

But if you enjoy church,

don't let me stop you.

Me? No. No, thank you.

...only the passion that touches its abyss can light the tinder of your utmost truth.

Only to him who loses his whole self will self be given.

A blaze that..

only by catching fire will you learn to know the word deep inside you.

Only where mystery was does life begin.

Please be seated.

One, two, three, freeze!

Back to the start. Yes, I saw you.

No.

One, two, three, freeze!

One, two, three, freeze!

Back to the start again.

No, no, no. I'm here.

One, two...

I win! I win!

I've got to give you a doubt...

You cheated!

What?

Oh, Otto! No, I didn't.

I didn't cheat.

Oh, don't give me the grumpy face. Smile.

I didn't cheat. Did I Friedrich?

You're not cheating.

Stop!

Enough!

So will you, please?

Really, I can't. I have too much work to do.

Even on a Sunday?

Even on a Sunday.

Don't you ever go to church?

My husband can't stand any noise of any kind anymore.

He even gets cross when I play the piano.

I can't keep Otto cooped up in this monastery.

He'll be very upset if you don't come.

Otto.

Come.

What a lovely boy. Just like his parents.

I do like your scent.

Thank you.

What is it?

Young man, don't you know better than to ask a lady her scent?

No, I'm afraid I didn't

But if I don't ask, how can I find out?

It's L'Heure Blueue, by Guerlain.

It suits you so well.

I'm not sure Guerlain may have made it especially for you.

Ready, smile!

Otto. Where is he?

Otto!

Otto!

I would hate to appear indiscreet,

but my husband has told me... Yes?

... that you have a friend in town... a lady friend.

I didn't expect him to tell you about it.

Oh, we tell each other everything. It's only natural.

I assure you that's all I know...

Especially since I understand that it's a secret affair.

Yes, it is.

What a romantic idea. A secret love affair.

Like a novel.

How gentlemanly of you not to disclose her name.

One day I'll tell you who she is.

Stop. Stop.

So you're top dog now, are you?

Don't be silly.

I asked the man on the gate and he said you'd taken over from the boss.

I'm only his private secretary.

What about the car?

He lets me use it.

What about his wife?

You forgot this lot. Washed and ironed.

Thank you.

You promised to come back and see me, remember?

Sorry, I haven't had time.

There's a young couple living in your old room now.

They're going to have a baby. They're going to be happy together.

Anna, I have got to go.

You did that a long time ago.

Carry on.

Go on then. Go back to your fancy mistress.

Anyone would think it was made for you.

I'll lend you a top hat too.

Is that really necessary, sir?

Indispensable!

In that case, thank you.

No, I thank you for relieving me of these dreary obligations on Sunday in the country...

and then an evening in town

listening to some fat woman take forever to die.

I'd prefer to walk back.

As you wish.

Alone.

Why?

Because... you know very well.

No, I don't. Please tell me.

Because we can't keep doing this.

Doing what?

Lying to each other.

Lying to each other?

What on earth are you imagining, Herr Zeitz?

Who do you think you are?

And what do you think I am?

Help me! Come quickly!

Don't just stand there. Help me.

Let's try and get him to sit up.

It's another seizure. Karl, can you hear me?

Listen to me.

Yes?

I'm going to call Doctor Meyer.

I'll give you one of those injections.

No need. I feel better already.

Tell me all about it.

About what?

Your night at the opera.

It was a serious heart attack.

The doctor says he might not recover unless he keeps lying in bed.

It was fortunate that you were there last night.

Or my husband wouldn't have survived.

I dread to think what would have become of us.

The new machine is being installed but...

it can't be brought on stream until it's been run in for months.

Never mind about that.

Friedrich, all our hard work has paid off.

Tomorrow the bank is to sign up for our Mexico venture.

I had no idea. Why, what does it surprise you?

The wheels will be turning fast from now on.

I shall need a man on the spot

to oversee the money operations.

On the spot in Mexico?

Where else?

And you're the man for the job.

What?

Me?

I want you out there as soon as possible.

Why me?

The whole idea of this wonderful scheme was yours, wasn't it?

Just think.

Travelling halfway across the world, building and running a mining town,

exploring the depths of the earth.

What a prospect, what a life for a young man.

So, should I take this proposal as a... kind of exile?

Exile from what?

All right.

If you want me to go, I'll go.

If you have any personal reasons that I'm not aware of,

that prevent you or deter you from going...

I shan't force you into it.

No, sir. There is nothing.

And no one.

Dinner is on the table. Aren't you coming down?

Are you unwell?

Hasn't your husband told you?

What?

That I'm to go to Mexico for two years.

For two years?

No, you can't! You can't.

When are you to leave?

Ten days.

Please don't.

I can't live without you.

Why didn't you tell me?

Tell you what? You already knew.

No.

Not here. Not now.

Mother! Mother?

No. You mustn't.

Not here, not now. Please, I told you.

No.

When then?

When you return.

In two years? Yes.

Will you still want me in two years?

Will you still want me?

We'll make a...

vow to each other.

a promise to love each other. Do you see?

No.

Friedrich, Friedrich, where the hell are you?

I was just arranging some flowers and one of those horrible creatures from the garden

came in, you know, one of those...

furry ones... it knocked over the vase.

I was frightened, I screamed.

Friedrich came to my rescue and chased it out the window.

Everything's fine now.

Come on, Friedrich. I need you too.

No, no darling. Otto has been waiting for his lesson.

Will you see cowboys and Indians?

No, Mexico isn't America.

But it's a huge big country too, with lots of deserts.

Will you carry a gun?

Definitely.

How long will it take you to get there?

Just over three weeks.

We sail from Hamburg, here, down the coast of England and France,

put in it Spain, Portugal,

and all the way across the Atlantic,

to Brazil, Venezuela,

and finally dock here in Mexico...

in a port called Tampico.

Will you send me stamps for my collection?

That's enough now, Otto. It's time for supper.

Will you come back here afterwards?

Yes.

I promise I'll come back here.

It's finished.

Now what do we do with it?

Break it up.

Stop this. Stop.

Stop.

Come closer to me.

It's ridiculous this great table separating us.

Soon it'll be an ocean.

Why don't we try and be happy this evening?

Yes, I'm sorry.

Here's to your last night.

Our last night.

I may,

mayn't I?

For our last night.

I'm going to make a suggestion

and I want you to think very carefully before you answer me.

Now, what if you...

May I clear the table, mum?

Yes, of course, thank you.

It was delicious.

What if you come away with me?

With your son, of course.

You must be...

Think carefully.

Please.

You must be dreaming.

Then I shall stay here.

If you stay here, we'll be found out.

I want to say goodbye to Friedrich,

before he leaves tomorrow.

At the crack of dawn from what I hear.

Yes, sir. Five o'clock.

Let's make the most of these last few moments together.

I wanted to thank you,

for making this immense sacrifice.

For leaving your homeland and... loved ones behind you.

Karl, do you really think you should?

Why deny oneself a pleasure...

while one is still alive?

My secret love,

your letters take so long to get here

that I can't bear to wait for the next one before I write.

Hello, I've come for some letters for Frau Verlag.

There should be transatlantic mail from Mexico.

I'll check them.

We are still only at the prospecting stage,

and I cover vast distances on horseback.

I have had to learn to ride, shoot, make a campfire.

I dull my mind with work

to try and numb my yearning for you.

The evenings by the campfire,

tired as I am,

I write to you...

envying the sheet of paper which will soon be in your hands...

pressed to your breast,

perhaps even to your lips.

My beloved, I can think of nothing but you from morning to night.

Especially at night.

If only you knew how much I miss you.

No sooner was our love disclosed than we had to say goodbye.

The moment I saw the train take you away

I knew that your absence would be unendurable.

But do not worry. This is our pact.

and I will stand the test with fortitude.

We are parted by distance but also by time.

Little by little,

the past feels more and more like a foreign country.

Your letters are all that I have to keep it alive inside me.

I too preserve your letters like treasure.

But yesterday I had quite a fright.

Otto showed me a Mexican stamp which he said his father had given him

Look at the stamp that father gave me.

I was terrified that Karl might have found your letters.

I had a letter from Friedrich.

Poor boy had bad luck. Caught some kind of fever.

Seems he almost died.

Mum, Mum, are you all right?

Let me help you. Are you all right?

Dear Herr Hoffmeister,

everything is going well here. I shall be back in six months.

In the meantime I wish a happy and prosperous year for 1914...

to you, your gracious wife and young Otto.

Respectfully yours, Friedrich Zeitz.

Father, may I keep the stamp for my collection?

Hans, what does that bell mean?

It means we are at war, Mum.

After stabilizing all fronts, our glorious army

has retaken the initiative, this time in the East.

How I wish this war would end.

I don't care whether we win or lose, as long as it is over.

I no longer know even know when I can hope for your return.

This may be my last letter.

Or the last you will receive for some time.

We have heard there is to be a naval blockade.

I feel like a man under house arrest,

cut off from my country and the woman I love,

by an ocean of steel and fire.

Return to sender, mum.

Why?

Because of the war, I suppose.

Is there a war in Mexico?

I wouldn't know, mum.

My husband wondered whether you've heard anything from Fried...

from Herr Zeitz.

I'm afraid we've lost touch with him, madam.

How so?

Didn't Herr Hoffmeister tell you?

All sea traffic between Europe and South America has stopped.

No ships, no mail.

Can't somebody cable him just to see if he's all right?

I'm sure he's all right.

There's no war there.

Tell your husband not to fret...

Frau Hoffmeister.

I can't... I can't breathe.

I can't breathe. I can't bre...

It's all right... it's all right.

Still these letters which you will never read.

The steelworks have been requisitioned to make artillery guns.

No word from you, but I keep on writing you.

Karl tried to object.

They threw him out and put an army officer in charge.

As a result my poor husband has fallen ill again.

I am frightened.

I've got nothing to hold on to.

The world of yesterday, the world I knew, is vanishing.

And I can't endure the present.

On his last day, Karl told me a stupendous secret.

I wanted to bring you together from the very beginning.

But then I felt such pain.

I could see that you loved him...

more than you ever loved me.

He took possession of you...

and dispossessed me.

How could I have kept you from loving him?

I told Otto it was for his sake.

That he'd be safer in a boarding school.

But in my heart of hearts, I felt I was abandoning him.

Just as I feel abandoned myself now that I'm alone...

with no one left to love.

I remember those lines from a poem I read to you one evening...

the week before you left.

In the old, cold, lonely park,

two ghosts recalled the past.

And you answered at once,

Why take refuge in the past,

when we can revel in the present?

Please, mum.

Don't sit there in the dark.

For six years now we've been apart.

And for four of them I haven't heard a word from you.

Not a single sign of life.

And yet, I'm certain

you are still out there

somewhere, alive.

I still think about you all the time.

The only thing that keeps me alive,

is the memory of our love.

It is for our love that I am in mourning.

Your skin, my skin, our union.

Mum.

Mum.

We have lost the war.

We've lost what?

Germany has lost the war.

Hello.

Yes, tomorrow.

Yes.

Herr secretary.

Hello, Hans.

Thank you.

What a pleasure to come back after all these years.

Yes, Herr secretary, all these years.

Hello Friedrich, welcome back.

I hope I haven't been too long.

I'm back to Germany on business. I took the chance to look you up.

How nice of you.

Are you settled in Mexico now?

By necessity, not the choice.

Are you still in the mining business? No.

I used my knowledge of chemistry to start a chemical fertilizer plant.

I'm pleased you've done so well for yourself.

Do you intend to stay in Germany for long?

I'm not sure, it depends on....

how my business goes. I've come over to sign contracts

with a company in Frankfurt.

I had no news of you. Your letters stopped coming.

So did yours.

So eventually I stopped writing them.

I wrote you a letter just after the armistice.

Must have gone astray.

A riding accident.

I would have been unfit to serve the war.

In any case we were kept under house arrest.

Did you want to serve?

I felt a sense of guilt...

by thinking of all the boys my age who had to...

go off and fight.

When the blockade began I tried to get out.

I was desperate to get back to...

To my home country.

Is that Otto?

Yes. He's 19 now.

Studying geography. His dream is to explore the Polar regions.

What about you?

What's your dream?

Oh, I don't have any dreams.

I'm alive. The world is at peace.

Yes. It is.

I couldn't quite finish it. There was a piece missing.

No, there isn't.

Look. They're all here.

Where did you find it?

Here. It's been here all the time.

I sold it.

You never liked it anyway.

The portrait of Herr Hoffmeister's wife.

Now his widow.

Yes, I know.

I'm sorry.

I never got married myself.

I've been with women, but...

Of course, far be it from me to reproach you on that front.

More tea? No, thank you.

I should be getting back to my hotel.

So soon?

I have a business meeting.

Oh, I completely understand.

Well, thank you for taking the trouble to...

Could I ask you just one favor?

Yes.

Might I have a look at my old bedroom?

It's silly, I know...

how sentimental one becomes with age.

I must warn you that your room is exactly the same.

Nothing has changed.

Not even you.

See, nothing has changed.

Everything's the same.

No, nothing has changed.

Except us.

I haven't forgotten my promise to you.

We're nearly there.

It took us a long time to get here.

Any chance of a room? No, we're booked solid.

You too? What's going on in this town?

It's the parade. The war veterans.

They've booked every single room in town.

A war wound?

So you're here for the parade.

Yes, yes we are

Well, uh...

then you're in luck.

We have an unexpected vacancy.

An that's Herr ....?

Zeitz.

Herr and Frau Zeitz.

Yes, Herr and Frau Zeitz.

Is this your first stay in town, sir?

No, we were here once.

Before...

Before.

Yes, indeed, mum.

Shall we go for a walk?

Yes, lets.

We walked down this very same path with Otto.

You remember?

Yes.

He kept running on ahead.

and we almost lost him for the umpteenth time.

I kept calling him to come back.

But actually I just wanted to be alone with you.

We were strangers then.

Less now?

Don't ever leave me again.

Don't ever leave me.

I'll never...

ever leave you from now on.

It took us a long time to get here.

Subtitles: Lu�s Filipe Bernardes