Original subtitles

Hello.

What can I do for you?

I want to sell some jewelry. Maybe.

Well, let's see it.

- Where did you get this? - My mom.

- Your mom? - She just died of cancer.

So your mom just died of cancer? Who gave it to your mom?

My dad. ls there any money in it?

Just a moment.

- I need to look something up. - Okay.

Fuck!

Severin.

I have stolen from you.

- I know. - What?

- Do you think I'm blind? - But

I promise I've got it all right here.

Put it on.

- What? - Put on the jewelry.

And then put this on.

We'll dine in an hour.

It's hard to write this.

Even after all these years I still feel the pain I felt -

- when Sofia and I went back up north.

Away from the stench of death and mass graves.

I with my child in my arms. She with one in her belly.

There was nothing left. I thought both Laust and Peter were dead -

- and so I was dead.

I'd lost all faith, and I suppose that -

- like the rest of the country, I was in a state of shock and madness.

Like a theater erupting in flames -

- transforming the operetta from euphoria to a burning inferno -

- and the audience's laughter to screams.

Because now the nation lay open to the Prussians.

The army had been wiped out -

- and thousands of men had fallen along with all the dead ideals.

So where are they now?

I don't know. Most of them ended up in mass graves.

Oh, my God.

There's nothing left.

Your Majesty.

Your Majesty, I just spoke to Parliament and said -

- that our defeat notwithstanding, we have the will to defend ourselves.

And I pointed to Frederick Ill

I have today notified Bismarck and King Wilhelm -

- of our complete surrender.

To spare our nation further harm and for the sake of the people -

- to be arbiters of our own fate -

- and not throw ourselves at the mercy of this superior force at our door -

- I have asked through the mediation of the Belgian king -

- whether Denmark can be incorporated in the German Confederation -

- and under which terms.

But

German? Denmark?

But that's treason!

Have you lost your mind?

Right, that is your area of expertise.

Doesn't madness run in your family?

Imagine that these illnesses don't just manifest themselves -

- in drooling, strapped-down loonies with rolling eyes -

- but also come to show -

- in the delusional mind of sanctimonious and respectable citizens.

A frightening thought.

Mrs. Heiberg!

Mrs. Heiberg!

Mrs. Heiberg!

It's terrible, Mrs. Heiberg.

The King is ready to surrender the country to the Germans.

My wildest fear in my wildest imagination. This is the end.

It's over. It's all over. Unless, Mrs. Heiberg, well

Together we must rally all forces.

Political, military, cultural.

We can still turn defeat into victory.

- We can still bring the mood around. - My dear, little Monrad.

I'm an artist. What on earth can I mobilize?

It's over. It just didn't work out.

Sometimes your performance is a success, sometimes it's a failure -

- and all your efforts sink into oblivion.

It's a very drab feeling.

You go about feeling melancholy for some time afterwards -

- but in time you forget.

And so be it.

You'll have to excuse me now. I'm already late.

Oh, don't stand there like a disappointed fat boy.

Tell me, Moltke

You are so familiar with the Danes.

What do you think of the Danish King's request -

- to incorporate Denmark into the German Confederation?

Out of the question! What do we need the Danes for?

They only speak Danish. Even if we did understand them -

- we'd hear nothing but complaints. The Danes never cease complaining.

In their opinion, they'd be the most important nation in the Confederation.

They have an abnormally high opinion of themselves.

I wouldn't be surprised if they, even after this defeat -

- turned everything upside down and proclaimed themselves victors.

- Is he right? - Bismarck is always right.

Let's go, gentlemen.

Let's get you back on your feet, Inge. Time heals all wounds.

That's a fact.

Tomorrow is another day, and things will look up.

You'll move in here, and everything will be

Everything will be as before.

You haven't asked what I'm going to call him.

- Well, what are you going to call him? - I'm going to call him Laust.

- And you love him? - What?

Naturally, you love him as a mother loves her child?

Yes, of course.

"The miraculous thing is that, even though the shells fall all around us -

- we still keep hearing the larks.

They don't want this war -

- and they make us down here on the ground look like foolish sheep.

Mother, I miss you. We miss you.

Soon this will be all over, and then we'll come back home.

I love you. Laust."

And Peter?

I don't know about Peter.

But he fell at Sankelmark.

Inge said so.

Sankelmark?

I doubt that.

But Didrich told her so.

Nobody knows anything about Peter.

What are you going to call him?

Peter.

You can speak?

- Yes? - I'd like to talk to Inge.

Who wants to talk to Inge?

Pardon me. Johan. I fought alongside Laust.

I have a letter for Inge from him.

I'd like to talk to Inge.

She's asleep.

I'd really like to talk to Inge. It'll only take a few minutes.

I'm sorry. But I'll give her the letter.

I'd prefer to deliver it myself. That was Laust's wish.

I'll see to it.

Promise me to give her the letter.

- It's important. - I am her mother.

What do you imagine?

Could I come inside for a glass of water?

We just washed the floor.

Hello! Are you a soldier?

Please assure me that she'll get the letter. It means a lotto me.

I'll give it to her as soon as she wakes up.

Come, soldier!

Come here, soldier!

Come and have a dram.

From Dybbszfl'? From Ms'?

Wasn't it hell? Hell.

Bloody Prussians!

Naturally, no one can defeat such a superior force.

Damned unfair.

And the Danish officers? Where were they?

4,000 men. 5,000?

Nobody knows how many we lost.

Fathers, sons, husbands.

And to what end?

But then again, we had the will.

That we had.

My son

My poor son.

They say he's in Hamburg.

You

knew Didrich.

- Tell me. - Tell you what?

About my son.

What do you want me to tell you about your son?

Didrich.

He was a captain on horseback.

A deserter. A coward. A man only capable of being in his own company.

"My dear, beloved lnge."

"If you're reading this letter, it means I'm dead.

Then we never got to do all the things we planned together.

All the things we dreamt of. The things everyone dreams of -

- when they know they've met the one and only -

- and life becomes easy.

I'm sure I'm good now.

That I'm not in pain.

That it's just one long sleep.

If that's the case, then I don't miss you.

And so you shouldn't miss me either, but leave me and move on.

We lost the battle, and you and I lost.

But promise me, my dearest love -

- to always find life.

Seek out the light. All the greatness you've always harbored in your heart -

- your happiness, your fire and your faith.

Set the old soil around you on fire -

- to make it fertile and live your life.

I will always love you. Yours, Laust."

I'm so tired.

Is anything the matter?

- That's all there is to tell. - Who are you?

To stand here under my roof, my house -

- and call him a coward!

A deserter!

Who are you to have the gall to defame my family like that -

- to my face?

Is that all you have to say?

There's nothing more to say.

Who are you to come here -

- and tell me the worst about my son?

A coward! A deserter!

Is that really all?

Come into the light.

- I'm sorry. - I will hear no more of it.

We'll repress it. I don't have time for enmity -

- and for all the things you can't do anything about anyway.

Stop that. Let's celebrate.

Look at this feast. Danish institutional food.

Overcooked cold cauliflower. Chou-fleur d'leau froide.

Yes! Machine-peeled potatoes from last year. Pommes /'ancienne.

And saucisse saucisse ave-c graisse. Sausage with fat.

And here! The out-and-out most Danish thing in the world.

The brown gravy. La sauce brune.

- Also known as chiasse. - Chiasse?

The shits.

That can only be accompanied by a Gevrey-Chambertin 1945.

Come along. There.

Yes.

There. Cheers.

Cheers.

- The damask? - Yes.

I thought we should celebrate -

- reading the last chapter of loge's book.

"Although Peter's fate had yet to be officially confirmed -

- I firmly believed Didrich's assurance -

- that he had fallen at Sankelmark.

Which later turned out to be one of Didrich's cruel lies."

Around June of 1866, he and the other Danish soldiers were released -

- and they began to head home.

First in groups, and later he walked alone.

Near the German border he bought the damask for his mother.

He traded his very last coins and a pipe.

And he had to earn his keep all the way home.

And then rumors of war flourished anew.

It seemed Bismarck's project was by no means finished.

Now it was Austria's turn to be crushed.

And in Germany he met yet again the eternal soldier -

- with an empty gaze shuffling to meet an unknown fate.

Things happen. Things are forgotten.

And life goes on.

Is it Didrich?

Well, I never!

Are you on your own? Hasn't anyone ...?

Where's the baron?

But

Didn't you get the letter? We sent it.

Weren't you in the camp in Hamburg six months ago?

They assured us it would get there.

What?

Well, the baron is dead.

Oh!

How?

He shot himself.

On. Why?

And we, Didrich, are a bunch of seedy -

- spoilt, suckered, simple, sottish

- Sottish! - Stumped traitors.

While you, Didrich

went to war. You fought and won, damn it.

- You won and came back. - Yes!

You're a bloody hero, Didrich, while we what what are we?

- What are we? - Dead drunk.

No. We're the future of Denmark.

Thanks to you, Didrich, we have reason to be proud.

Even though the Germans beat us, we won. We won!

Because we're Danish. We'll show them all -

- that we may be broken into a thousand pieces, no -

- a million pieces but we'll get back on our feet.

You got back on your feet, Didrich. Respect!

Respect! Respect!

Show us the wound.

- No! - Yes.

- No, I don't want to. - Didrich!

DidriCh! Did rich! Didrich!

Didrich! Didrich!

- Do you want to see the wound? - Yes.

Give me a bottle and a saber, and I'll bloody well show you -

- what I did to the Prussians down there.

You chose the easy way out, old man.

A single shot did you in.

The rest of us you you know.

We died a hundred times a day.

A hundred!

For your sake!

Father?

Father?

Answer me, you son of a bitch!

Please come up

and hold me.

Welcome, Didrich.

Dearest Inge -

- Denmark is grieving.

Many have been left terribly alone these past couple of years.

Me too.

The estate is too big. I can't run it by myself.

Your father is an invaluable support to me, of course.

But privately, I'm lost.

I know that I'm a fool.

You've loved another man -

- and I've stood in the shadow like a ludicrous idiot.

An awkward drunk. Yes.

But no more.

No more, Inge.

You see, I've decided that life goes on.

- It should be lived no matter what. - Yes.

It won't do any good for us all to sink into a big hole -

- and stay there.

Especially not if we can help each other out of the hole.

What I really want to say is that sometimes -

- something is better than nothing.

That is why I've come here today to ask you -

- and your parents for your dainty, little white hand, Inge.

Inge.

These are for you.

It's not every day a baron marries the estate manager's daughter -

- but these are new times. These are new times, Inge.

That's what you always keep telling me.

Congratulations.

Congratulations, congratulations.

- That was that, then. - Thank you, Baron.

But we don't want the bastard. We'll have to work something out.

Yes.

It looks like rain.

You can't do this.

There now, Inge.

- Come here. - No!

There.

It never really was your child, was it?

Monrad.

They can't blame us for having a vision.

Even if it did fail.

We wanted to achieve great things.

So many dead.

So many dead families.

So many mutilated. The country itself is amputated.

It is grotesque.

- Inwards. - What?

Inwards.

From now on we must think inwards.

Unite ourselves with our own smallness and triumph with what we've got.

It would be wise of you to take a respite, Monrad.

Goodbye.

All will turn out well, you'll see.

Everyone says New Zealand is marvelous.

And the natives there don't know God.

If there's any purpose at all in this world -

- and if you still have a mission -

- it must be that you with your faith and strength can convert the savages.

It's from Germany.

It's for you.

Good heavens.

Damask.

It's beautiful.

Thank you. Thank you, my dear.

What do you want?

I was told I could find Inge here.

Inge?

Oh, Her Ladyship.

Grandjean! Who is it?

Who the bloody hell comes calling on a Sunday?

You.

Peter!

But you're you're

We all thought you were dead.

Yes, many died.

Many died.

Where's the child?

Inge, where is Laust's son?

I was told he doesn't live here. Where is he?

Well We're not all that fond of bastards.

I was told you were both dead.

I was told you were both dead!

Who are you?

I'm your father.

What's a father?

What kind of bird is that?

- That's the lark. - Is it a lark?

Yes. The lark is always happy.

- Would you like to run on the corn? - Yes.

Would you? Come on then.

Dear friends. The sun is shining -

- but many tears have been shed lately.

For Laust, too -

- who died under the same blue sky as today with the lark up above.

We're simple folk -

- who've seen too much in too short a time.

Vvhenllooked into the eyes of the enemy -

- my heart beat rapturously like in a wild animal.

It destroyed something.

I know that if we are to fear anything at all, it's the evil inside us.

For it takes so little to release it.

A tiny scratch. A loveless child or just a stupid misunderstanding.

We must take care every single day not to release the evil -

- but to cultivate all the things that hold it back.

Let's cultivate joy and each other.

The elation when the stocks bloom, when the log splits in one perfect blow.

When Laustjunior and Peterjunior lie in bed giggling.

When Sofia passes me and squeezes my hand.

When the lark up above tries to tell us over and over again that life is good.

And that everything is splendid.

At the end of life lies death.

Laust went down that road far too early.

We who are left owe it to him and the other dead to live life to the fullest.

So we will. All that we can.

Cheers, dear friends.

Cheers.

- Cheers, my darling Sofia. - Cheers.

Oh yes It's been a long day.

Would you like me to read?

- There's more? - We're on the last page.

November 5th, 1939.

- When did Inge die? - Three weeks later.

- And you were ...? -18.

I was by her side when she expired.

"Over the years I forgot my love for Laust -

- but I never forgot our son.

I only followed him from afar. Cautiously. Full of shame."

Maybe I tried to numb that guilt by bringing more children into the world.

Not made from love, but made to bring love into the world.

The demon in Didrich did die a little each time a new child was born.

Poisoned by all the life forcing itself into the world.

And that is why my husband slowly grew into a human being.

And with time I managed to bond again with Sofia and Karen.

And with little Laust.

That is how time heals everything.

And now I'm an old woman about to die.

I haven't been able to write for a long time.

My hands shake too much to hold the pen.

"So my dear grandchild, Severin -

- has written down all these words the past months.

Who will read it in the future and why, I don't know.

I'll just be a dead old woman with my time behind me.

What others can learn from my spent old life isn't much more -

- than the realization that life runs its course -

- and that you're a fool not to make the most of it.

Thank you and good night."

And that's that.

The end.

It just ends there.

And you wrote it all down!

You could have told me.

Hey!

Subtitles: Helle Schou Kristiansen Dansk Video Tekst