Hungerjahre - in einem reichen Land (1980) - full transcript
Jutta Brückner's film "The Hunger Years"
premiered on February 8th, 1980,
at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
The German premiere took place
on February 22th, 1980,
at the International Forum
of New Cinema in Berlin.
The digitization was done,
in cooperation with Jutta Brückner Films,
at CinePostproduction in Munich,
using the original negative
from the Deutsche Kinemathek collection
and the sound from ZDF's broadcast archives.
We would like to thank ZDF
for its kind cooperation
and the FFA (Film Funding Institution)
for its financial support.
For years, I'd tried to forget.
I remembered places,
houses, public squares,
other people.
But I'd blocked myself out
of my own memories.
I kept inventing new destinations
to make sure I was constantly looking ahead.
Whenever I got too close to myself,
I frantically retreated into work
or some paralyzing illness.
By the time I was 30 years old,
I realized that I wasn't free of the past.
I was living with the petrified heart
of a thirteen-year-old.
And I forced myself to remember.
Summer.
"And when he went out into the world,
he found a multitude of wonders
just waited to be discovered:
cashmere scarves,
embroidered with golden flowers,
as gossamer as cobwebs.
Carved chests of ivory
filled with Russian tea.
An old violin with a picture on the back.
A large chess set
made of coral and amber.
Wine glasses trimmed
in turquoise and silver.
A large, marvelous sugar bowl
made of mother-of-pearl.
A silk niqab adorned with gold..."
Dad, what's a niqab?
Come on!
Jump, princess!
You think I'll make a new friend here?
Sure, in a nice place like this!
That's par for the course in our society:
evicting people
just because they're unmarried.
But we're more entitled to the apartment
because of the child.
We need the room.
Who got evicted?
THE HUNGER YEARS
The people who lived here
before we did.
Why don't they get married?
She needs to sleep now.
She'll oversleep again tomorrow.
You should explain it to her.
They're in a common-law marriage.
- What's that?
Is that really necessary right now?
The woman is getting
a war widow's pension.
If she marries her boyfriend,
she loses the pension.
So, time to sleep now.
You don't have to know everything.
Mom, do you think I'll make
a new friend here?
What do you want for Christmas?
You said you wanted for a big accordion.
If I went back to work,
you could have a big accordion.
You think you could manage on your own?
I'd be out of the house all day.
They're playing catch.
Ursula just told me that she wants
a big accordion for Christmas.
Now she's going to say:
"It would all go much faster
if I had a sales job.
At least for a while.
We could buy a used car, too."
Now is when he usually says:
"People will think I can't support my family.
My wife doesn't need to work.
I earn enough.
We have what we need."
And I would love to go away
somewhere on vacation.
After the Latin test tomorrow
I won't have to practice anymore.
Then I'll go outside with all my balls
and they're sure to let me play with them.
I start on the first of the month.
They hired me right away.
It's just temporary at first.
Thanks.
What's in there?
Just in case!
In case there are bad times again.
Mom, when you're working during the day,
Helga can come over.
So I'm not all alone.
Breaking through my timidity.
Calling a spade a spade.
Being passionate about myself,
being curious about myself.
Communicating with myself.
Asking myself questions,
listening to myself,
answering myself.
Nothing's going to change for you.
If you want to do it that bad.
THE HUNGER YEARS
THE HUNGER YEARS
in a Land of Wealth
A FILM BY JUTTA BRÜCKNER
Else Heim und brother-in-law Paul
say hello to Mother and Zwickau.
They hope that Grandma will be able
to see her grandkids soon.
The Grützel family in Cologne says hello
to all their old neighbors in Leipzig.
And Werner and Margot in Hamm
are thinking about everyone
who stayed behind in Rostock,
especially little Hans-Joachim...
I know a new rhyme.
- ...whom they wish a happy sixth birthday.
"We hope the whole family is reunited soon."
The hostess had a cabinet
Twelve feet wide and 15 feet deep
Inside were all the turnips stems
Which in her youth she'd keep
And like a tom-tom-tom she'd beat
What's a "tom-tom-tom"?
It's not that I'm complaining.
But he could at least lift a finger
to help on laundry day.
Sunday's always my laundry day now.
When I get home in the evening,
it's too late.
So a little help once in a while...
I'm not talking about much,
but one round of shopping or dusting.
When your father was in that accident,
I thought, "I'll do anything,
as long as he just comes homes,
even if he can never walk again,
as long as he's here
and I don't have to bear everything
on my own.
A single woman, my child,
is a nobody in the eyes of the world.
But when he died,
I actually...
managed well.
Mom.
Mom!
Mom...
Mom, I'm sick.
There's blood in my panties.
That's when you know you're getting old.
That's perfectly natural.
That happens to all women
when they reach puberty.
It happens to you, too?
- Yes, of course.
But from now on
you have to be very careful around boys.
You can't mess around with them
at all anymore.
And you can't go swimming either
or change your underwear.
So I can't play with boys anymore?
You're too old to be playing with boys.
This is never going to stop?
Yes, it will! When you're old as I am.
But until then, every month.
And when it happens, just say
"I don't feel well"
or "Aunt Flo is visiting."
What does that mean?
Well...
What does that mean?
You never told us that.
I don't know either.
That's what my mother told me.
Now stop being so curious.
You'll learn all of that in school
in biology class.
Mom, I don't want it.
Can't I do anything to keep it
from happening again?
Dear...
I know it's not nice.
But it's Nature's way.
Someone has to have the children.
You'll realize one day
that being a woman is a beautiful thing.
Lovely! It looks brand-new.
Ursel?
What's wrong?
- What...
She ate too much cake.
She's got a stomach ache.
Did you know that both of Georg's aunts
got into trouble when they were girls?
Well, I mean, a person should
be able to control herself.
I guess carelessness runs in that family.
Of course, they had to get rid of them.
They probably...
went to some back alley abortionist.
Aren't you worried about Ursel?
You read in the papers about latchkey kids.
Erna!
I don't want to see my daughters arguing.
Gerda, promise me
you'll keep an eye on Ursel.
Don't let her fall into godless ways!
I can trust my child.
She's the best pupil in her class.
A real woman will not be broken.
Slowpoke!
Dimwit!
You silly dimwit!
Reaching into the raspberry bushes
with scratched arms,
blueberry juice
staining my teeth and fingers,
summer days digging holes
behind the hedges,
hiding places in damp cellars,
dangling my bare legs in rainwater
in a rusty barrel,
cooling down mosquito bites.
Coal dust.
Puddles of dirty water
with an iridescent greasy film.
Five hundred marbles in a bag,
whole ones, halves, multi-colored.
In every color!
Jumping rope
until I'm out of breath.
Calluses on my feet
that never go away,
never ever.
Gernot!
Gernot...
Ursula?
Stop it this instant!
That's your Sunday dress.
Ursula!
Light on, knife shows
Grandma takes off all her clothes
In you go
Out you come
And little Klaus is quickly done
Light out, knife shows
Grandma takes off all her clothes
In you go, out you come
Little Klaus is quickly done
The hostess had a pastor
Who always wore a mourning band
He couldn't ever forget the day
That nasty syphilis
Ate his tom-tom away
Mine are bigger than yours.
No way.
Mine are just as big.
And I'm much taller than you.
I'm more muscular than you.
Nope, I wouldn't say that.
We'll see about that.
Mine really are bigger.
No, I don't think so. You're lying.
Silly girls.
Soon they'll wind up with a baby.
Then it's too late.
When I turn 18,
I'm going to go on a bike tour.
All across Europe,
all the way to Sicily.
Now, now!
You don't think I'm going to allow that.
But Gernot is allowed to.
Gernot is a boy.
That's different.
I don't understand
why that should be a reason.
With regard to the state of emergency
in the Soviet sector of Berlin:
As of 1 pm on June 17th, 1953,
a state of emergency was declared
in the Soviet sector of Berlin.
All protests...
However you choose to spin it,
it is a disgrace when a socialist
government shoots at workers.
At workers?
- ...are banned on streets and public squares
as well as in public buildings.
At agitators! Do you know
how many West Berlin groups
went over to agitate?
- Yeah, there were probably a few.
The rest is just your propaganda.
...the commandant of the Soviet sector
in Berlin...
A profound outrage
has our working people in its grip.
Outrage over the attempt to abuse them.
Outrage over the fact
that agitators have tried...
...criticism of government measures...
...on these heroes of liberty...
...who hate slavery and love freedom...
...that agents und criminal elements...
- ...against other victims
of this cruel tyranny...
...the no less notorious German Party...
...a wave of bitterness and desperation...
...in the same streets, through which
on May 1st, just a few weeks ago,
our working people
carried the flags of their party
and their nation...
...against slavery and oppression...
...sang battle songs,
yesterday evening and this morning
fascist gangs began singing
the Horst Wessel Song
or broke out in shouts of
"We want Hitler back."
...that Germans will not be slaves.
...and the patriotic initiative
of our populace and our republic...
...our desire for freedom...
...social justice, prosperity...
- ...behind the Iron Curtain...
...was spilled by brutal, cruel dictators
to maintain their tyrannical domination.
...to insist on unity and liberty.
Thus, two worlds exist in close proximity
right now.
It is particularly evident here.
A sign here on Kochstrasse,
still in the West sector:
"Festive wines from Baden."
And a little later, a bit farther away...
Why don't they give them their freedom?
Here, West Berliners looking over
and over there only a few GDR officers,
who are also, it would seem,
bored.
This concludes our tour...
I just hope there's not another war.
If so, it was all for nothing.
You can't sleep?
Don't be afraid, Mom.
Do you remember,
when we were on the train...
when we jumped from the train
and were bombed in the trench
by the strafers?
Mom!
What is freedom?
Well, I think...
Well,
it's when we're doing well
and don't have to be afraid.
Send a package to East Germany
as often as you can.
Remember not to include any printed
materials in your packages.
No newspapers, magazines and the like.
And now I'll tell you
what they're really in need of.
Please write this down.
So, grease,
meat products, sugar,
milk, powdered eggs, cheese
and above all, of course,
bananas and oranges.
We will not rest and we will not stop.
I make this vow for the entire German people,
until all of Germany is reunited
in peace and freedom.
GERMAN WAR GRAVES COMMISSION
Yes? - My father said that the word
"freedom" is being misused
and that they shouted "freedom"
in the East on the 17th of June
when they broke an old concentration
camp commandant out of prison.
I didn't want to say that in class.
Yes, it's a good thing
you didn't mention that.
Please don't mention it again.
Yes, but is that true?
I can't say anything specific about it.
I only know that claims like that are...
usually used for propaganda purposes.
I was never allowed out at night.
But this one time my mother let me
and there was your father.
You now, your father was a handsome man.
That evening he kept offering me,
all evening long, really,
candy from this gigantic bag.
I got such a stomach ache.
You were wearing
your beautiful blue velvet dress.
That was the first time I'd been out
since going underground.
I think we ate at least a pound
of candy that night.
That was the first thing
I had to teach you:
not to be such a spendthrift.
Why had you gone underground?
The Nazis were after me
because I passed out pamphlets.
There were these skyrockets,
which we would set off
in front of store entrances
and then run away.
There'd be a bang
and pamphlets would come flying out of them.
Why weren't you allowed
to pass out pamphlets?
I was shaking when he told me that.
He had to promise me
never to do that again.
You never did anything again
after that, Dad?
Would you rather he'd ended up
in a concentration camp?
Dad,
I love you so much.
What's wrong?
Are you okay?
Dad, tell me about the old days.
During the Ruhr Uprising,
we got sent a machine gun.
It had been taken apart
and put into a package.
We brought it from the train station
on a handcart.
And we put it back together
in a comrade's kitchen.
So there it was.
We didn't do anything with it.
Because the world revolution never happened.
But it eased our minds just having it.
In an emergency,
we'd be able to attack.
It was pointed at the church tower.
Back then we were all rabid atheists.
When I dropped out of school...
I dropped out of school, because
my brother and I had gotten it
into our heads...
Well?
Dreamer! What are you thinking about?
There were these young people
carrying posters.
There was a rifle on them,
which was broken in half.
I'll bet Dad will be interested
when I tell him.
Don't tell me you two are Reds!
No, no.
It...
It's from the old days.
In his family,
they were...
Naturally, some of it stays with you.
Like an old habit.
Yes, it used to be completely different.
My husband also had a few guys...
- But Dad said
himself yesterday that he passed out
pamphlets during the Nazi time.
And they want to elect him chairman
of the work council.
What for?
Your husband isn't a laborer.
And the other day you told me yourself:
"I hope there's no war!"
Stop butting into grownup conversations.
Never mind, Gerda.
She doesn't even know
what she's talking about.
But I don't get what your husband is up to.
Everyone is against war.
So are we.
But that's not the way
to go about it.
That's not something you discuss.
What happens in our family
is nobody else's business.
Do you always have to be with them?
They're so incredibly stupid.
Your mother thinks unions are crude.
Standing outside all day long.
I had no idea how taxing that is.
And all that for 280 marks a month.
You two could have at least
hung up the laundry.
Good day. You're their daughter?
What do you want?
Can I speak to your mother?
My mother's at work.
She'll be home after closing.
Your mother works?
I didn't know that.
Would you please...
Please give her this letter.
What do you want from my mother?
Gimpy!
Gimpy!
"Dear Mrs. Scheuner,
I'll get right to the point:
Please stop contesting this divorce.
Your husband doesn't love you anymore.
You know this as well as I do.
He and I would like to start a new life.
Please don't stand in the way
of our happiness.
Your opposition won't make you
any happier,
but it will make two people unhappy.
Liesel Schmitt.
PS.
I will exert my influence to ensure
that you receive a generous
divorce settlement."
How dare that woman
write something like that?
You have to do something about it!
Dad...
Please.
Oh, honey...
How can I explain it to you?
She's such a wretched creature.
Her husband was shot to death
while on the run.
You'll understand when you grow up.
What's the matter?
Did you get a bad grade?
It happens sometimes.
I get sad for no reason.
It just happens.
Don't eat it all at once.
Whore.
Filthy bitch.
I'm fine with him leaving me alone.
But that only means he's got someone else.
Mom, do I have to put up with that?
You can't let it show.
Men want to have the feeling
that a woman...
That's just the way it is.
You have to act
like you care.
Mom?
I'll always do well in school
and study
and never leave you.
Then you'll become a high school teacher
and I'll move in with you
and keep house for you.
Only if your father dies before me,
of course.
I mean, it could happen.
You never know.
Listen,
I think we should buy you
your first brassiere.
A large vase from China
with rose-colored almond blossoms
on golden branches
bedecked with dewdrops.
A shiny seashell, in which you could
hear the sound of the sea
when you held it to your ear.
A fan with a handle studded
in sparkling crimson jewels.
When you unfolded it,
a peacock spread its iridescent plumage.
The hot, silent darkness enveloped them
like a velvet blanket.
He spoke to her, but she could not
understand what he was saying,
her heart was beating so loud,
as if would stop,
and his strong, warm hands
stroked her bare arms.
He placed one arm around her hips
and the other around her shoulder.
She felt the tight muscles of his thighs
against her body.
The buttons on his...
The hostess had a waitress
She...
The hostess had a thrifty cook...
The hostess had a picket fence...
The hostess had a Ford V8...
The hos...
The hostess!
The hostess had body lice...
The hostess also had a kid...
The hostess also had a kid...
The hostess also had a son
Who masturbated...
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you!
If you only knew how much I love you."
Do I have to trim the liver?
It's trimmed
when you get it from the butcher.
It's like dumplings.
You've made them so often. Eggs...
Take your hand out of your pocket!
Mrs. Merkheim?
This is my daughter.
You finally get to meet her.
Your mother says...
- You needn't be formal. She's not that old.
...that you're a very good student
and quite helpful around the house.
She only had one C
on her last report card,
otherwise all As and Bs.
We have good reason
to be proud of her.
Yes, well...
Keep up the good work.
You're always embarrassing me.
People think I'm this goody two shoes.
Mrs. Merkheim has a son
who barely gets promoted each year.
As quiet as she just was,
she's not happy either.
I hate it when you touch me all the time
and tell me what I do wrong.
I know it myself!
What's the matter now?
Other girls do much better than me.
That's not true.
You're the best in your class.
This hairdo and these clothes
make me look so plain.
They all laugh at me.
I want to take dance lessons, too.
They all get to.
And they all have boyfriends.
Mom, it's totally innocent.
Don't think that anything...
But they're all going to parties
and I want to be included.
- You don't need to be.
Those parents will be surprised
when their daughters
get left back for being boy crazy.
We're keeping an eye on our girl.
I'm really not being petty.
You can join the accordion club,
girl scouts or nature lovers,
for all I care,
but basement parties
are out of the question.
You boneheads! Wake up!
Imagine you're after some blonde
and you're horny as hell.
Sorry about that, Miss Scheuner.
Well, it's true!
Break!
And after the break,
from the top and with gusto.
I want to formally apologize to you
for our conductor.
That was inappropriate
for a young lady to hear.
But you know how it is:
Tough on the inside, soft on the inside.
May I offer you a cigarette?
Yes.
Your first?
No.
Can I help you?
Don't come any closer.
Don't come any closer.
My God, I just wanted to help you.
Is anyone here?
PREVENT
THE BAN OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY
It's unfair that we're made this way.
You should be able to rip out your ovaries.
Your whole life afraid
of getting pregnant again.
How was it?
Was it nice?
Yes.
It was nice.
Good night.
Maybe we should talk it over...
all that stuff.
But you read a lot.
Night.
Good night.
I was 23 when I met Georg.
Before then...
None of us ever went to the theater
or the movies, dancing or drinking.
My mother always said:
"A decent girl
lives with her mother
as long as possible."
Which is why I never got to be young
in that sense.
At the time I didn't miss it.
Now sometimes I think...
Well! Who knows what the point of it was.
We're all going.
They're in my class.
Put your glasses back on.
You know the saying:
"Girls who wear glasses never get passes"?
Well, I think bookish women are lovely.
With five kids in my family,
it was out of the question.
I admire anyone who stays in school.
How do like it here?
I think it's spiffy.
Yes, it's nice.
But I want my home to be nicer.
Cozier.
Cigarette?
- Yes, sure.
One day I'm going to build
myself a house.
Not just for me, of course,
but for the family I'll have.
Everyone here looks so spiffy.
You should wear black suits.
With high-necked white blouses.
That would look good on you.
Do you want to be a teacher?
I would've liked to become a teacher.
Do you have any siblings?
No.
We've been waiting for you
for two hours.
Come home with us this instant.
Excuse me, I...
just wanted to take your daughter
out for a bit.
I had no idea you were worried...
I'm Otto Bunker.
Aunt Hildegard and Aunt Lotti
both had...
If you show up one day with a child
before you're married, I'll...
I'll kill myself!
I couldn't bear...
to see my only daughter
throw her life away.
Pirate queen with two pistols,
one on each side.
I cross the glaciers
of Mont Blanc alone
until I stand at the peak.
The snow rages all around me,
but I don't budge an inch.
And when I get out of my race car,
the tires are smoking,
but I take off my glasses...
Once you learn English,
you'll get a better position for sure.
We might be able to move
to a nicer neighborhood.
It's nice enough here.
But it would be so nice
if we had a dining room.
And you'd have an office
where you could be undisturbed
when you do the accounts.
I stand in front of the class
and read my poems.
Everyone listens in awe
and they get printed in the school paper.
Frank comes up to me
at Veronica's party,
because someone told him about it.
We dance together all night long.
We tell each other things
that no one else can understand.
- One, two, three!
Isar, Iller, Lech and Inn
Into the Danube they flow
Kocher, Jagst and Regen
Head towards it also
Get down to the yard!
- I feel sick.
You want some?
Don't be afraid.
You'll feel much better afterwards.
I guess you didn't get invited
to the party either.
Listen, you better not tell on me!
A vacuum cleaner with a curtain attachment.
A Persian rug.
New duvets. A Chippendale cabinet.
Gertrude's mother is a journalist.
Every night exciting people drop by.
Erika's mother is divorced
and has her own store.
Being divorced is sophisticated.
Marianne's mother doesn't work at all.
But she's always busy with all the people
constantly coming to visit.
They eat their cake
with tiny knives and forks.
A washing machine. A vacuum cleaner
with curtain attachment and...
New duvets.
A Chippendale cabinet.
A vacation in Italy.
And none of their mothers
sells beds in a department store.
And none of their fathers works
on the staff of a shipping company.
All the girls go to dance lessons and to the
ice cream parlor. They get to wear nylons.
None of them have to sit at home
in the evening like me.
Moping again?
And always that sweater.
It's all you ever wear.
And that jungle hair.
You think that's pretty?
At least the other girls' mothers
get their hair done sometimes
and don't always wear
such old homemade outfits.
How does that look?
I can't stand it anymore.
I can't stand it anymore.
I can't stand it anymore.
Say something!
You just sit there
watching your daughter insult me.
Her upbringing has always been
your department.
Well, my mother was the dearest thing
in the world to me.
Yes, your relationship is...
Can't you knock first?
We don't look at all alike.
You've become too much for her
and your mother doesn't know
how to control you anymore.
I don't want to go back home.
Mom wouldn't even miss me.
She doesn't like me.
She won't even talk to me anymore.
She's punishing me
by not talking to me at all.
For a whole week.
It's like I'm not even there.
Your mother is helpless.
She was an obedient girl.
That's why she doesn't understand you.
You're too different.
She can't expect me to turn out
just like she did.
She wants me to do exactly what she did.
And I'm also supposed
to be grateful
for being able to be a different person
than she is.
Grandma,
every night I have these terrible dreams.
In one dream I had recently
I'm standing with one foot on a globe
that's dropping deeper and deeper.
At the same time
I'm growing into outer space.
It's pulling and it rips me in half
and I have the feeling
that it's tearing me apart.
Don't think about it.
You can stay here tonight
and help me sort through all the items.
"Do not be surprised, brethren,
if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed
from death to life..."
She's become so angry.
All the sweetness is gone.
And she was such a friendly child.
Now she just wants, wants, wants!
She has no idea what a sacrifice it is
for us to send her to high school.
Now she wants to have everything
the other girls do.
"Whoever has earthly possessions and
notices a brother in need, but withholds
his compassion from him,
how can God's love
be present in him?"
- Those kids' parents are businessmen,
managers and civil servants.
I mean, we can't keep up with them socially.
And they don't even need the schooling.
They marry someone rich.
It's fine for them to take dance lessons.
A woman can either dance
or she can't.
What does she need lessons for?
I never learned to dance
and I was the best dancer far and wide.
And famous for my pretty little feet.
"... we have confidence
in the presence of God.
and receive from him anything we ask,
because we keep..."- Erna!
Make me some coffee.
Really strong.
Please?
It was never this bad with Ursel before.
She just sits there reading.
And her kidneys are getting
worse and worse.
She's getting younger and smaller.
My poor child.
Look.
I had your brooch re-set.
Your father gave it to me
when Franz was born.
Does Georg give you enough jewelry?
He's home evenings a lot now.
He's not going to any more meetings.
And he didn't run for a seat
on the work council.
Keep an eye on Ursula.
She's a feisty one.
She takes after me, the little hussy.
When we'd been married a year,
Georg and I finally got assigned
an apartment.
And I had to move away from my mother.
She brought me to the train station
and I cried the whole way down.
And I gave her my entire wages,
226.20 marks,
just as I'd done every month.
Then Georg picked me up
at the train station when I arrived.
I didn't have a penny to my name.
Community was always
the most important thing to me.
So I dropped out
and trained to be a lathe operator.
See, all my friends in the Free
Proletarian Youth were laborers.
But I never got the hang of lathe operating.
My teacher told my mother:
"Ma'am, the kid has two left hands.
He needs mental work."
So I got trained at the employment office
as an assistant clerk.
But as soon as I finished, the massive
unemployment began in 1929.
And I was out of work for seven years.
Some unemployed people were
homeless and living in tents
on eight marks a week
in unemployment benefits.
In the winter they had to find rooms
and pay the rent from that money.
After seven years, I finally found work.
And then the war started.
And you were happy just to stay alive.
When it was finally all over
and life had returned
to some degree of normalcy,
I was over 40 years old.
We had at least 15 years stolen from us,
in which we barely had enough to eat
or clothes on our backs
and were sent to our deaths.
Fifteen years!
That's enough, girls.
Gather up the bats.
What's that?
- Let's see it.
Well, we used to sing this.
We would wear black skirts,
white blouses and neckerchiefs.
That was the uniform
of the BDM.
The first time I went home
in that uniform,
our janitor, an old SPD member, stopped
carrying my bike into the basement.
He'd always done it for me before.
Naturally I thought that he was too old
to understand
that great things were happening.
I felt sorry for him.
When we woke up, there were
six-and-a-half million murdered Jews
and who know how many dead soldiers.
I'm a member of the Society
for Judeo-Christian Cooperation.
It's impossible to make abends for all that.
But you have to start somewhere.
Will we learn about that in History?
Before graduation. But you have
to discuss it with your teacher.
Not enough time.
That's how it was in my sister's class.
Our flag flutters before us
We move into the future, man by man
We march for Hitler
Through night and through trouble
With the flag of our youth
For freedom and bread
Our fla...
Our flag flutters before us
GERMANY, MY FATHERLAND
On July 7th, 1956, the West German
Parliament overrules the SPD
and institutes compulsory military service.
GERMAN YOUTH, DECIDE
On August 17th, 1956,
the West German Constitutional Court declares
the Communist Party of Germany
unconstitutional,
ordering its disbandment
and banning the creation
of any follow-up organizations.
Federal Secretary of the Interior Schröder
declares:
"The appropriate authorities will carry out
this decree in accordance with the law.
As concerns the prosecution
of criminal offenses,
I do not wish to anticipate the ruling
of the judicial authorities.
But I think I can say
that mass prosecutions
are not under consideration.
There will be no waves of arrests.
This is not about minor followers
of the Communist Party.
Who are they? Misguided workers
who fell prey to inflammatory speeches;
retirees whom the Communists
promised pots of gold;
young people who saw these plans
for a coup as an adventure;
a few artists and intellectuals
who were unable to resist the seductive power
of dialectical materialism.
There will be no witch hunt.
No one will take away their jobs.
All of our security measures are always
guided by a single notion:
to do what is necessary
with restraint
and without being overzealous.
They were good then.
Yes, they were.
Do you bake with butter or margarine?
- Not with butter.
It's too expensive.
You'd need to put in a half pound.
We accepted too much.
Yes, you're right.
I think they'll get back on their feet.
- Got to.
Well, cheers.
- Cheers.
When breakfast rolls cost five cents,
that's just...
How are you supposed to pay for that?
I wonder how people with large
families manage. - Thanks, Liesel.
That's for me, right?
You have a lot more money than me.
No, last Sunday you had a lot more.
Shall we stretch our legs a little
before dinner?
Yes, but slowly please.
Yes, living well makes you really lazy.
My mother always said:
"Eat breakfast like an emperor,
lunch like a king,
dinner like a beggar."
We'll do the dishes later.
- Afterwards.
Look, your lawn's been trampled.
No, no, my boy.
It all started much earlier.
You never put all your cards
on the table.
You started flirting with the SPD
while we were in the youth movement.
How can you forget everything you learned?
- Yeah, yeah,
"freedom" and "democracy"!
That's just window dressing.
Mom!
I was running across a meadow,
where there was a huge viaduct.
Very narrow.
On each side stood a ladder.
I had to climb over the viaduct. I wasn't
allowed to keep walking on the meadow.
And there was someone at my heels.
I could hear him panting.
Down the other side again,
into a house and up to the attic.
The man behind me got closer and closer.
I had to crawl up the chimney.
Once I'd made it,
he couldn't be able to get me anymore.
When I was halfway up,
he pulled my legs
and I couldn't get up.
But he couldn't pull me down...
Did you call me?
I don't think so.
The party's just getting started.
We're going to Italy next summer.
This year we got the washing machine.
Okay, okay.
In '34 I was still in the resistance
passing out pamphlets.
We would set off these skyrockets
in front of doorways
and then run away.
They would explode
and pamphlets would come
flying out of them.
During the Ruhr Uprising,
he was sent a package
a machine gun inside.
He brought it from the train station
and put it back together
in a comrade's kitchen.
Is it dinner time again already?
What happened to his arm?
A guard at Dachau cut off his arm
with a shovel.
Why didn't they send you
to a concentration camp?
You were passing out pamphlets
in late '33. You told me that!
I was in hiding.
And they stopped looking for me
after a while.
Fighting against such a far-reaching system
is pointless.
It was just pointless!
They could have helped us
from abroad.
But not here on the inside.
You had no courage.
No, I wasn't a hero.
But you have no idea what's it like
to live under that kind of regime.
You can't just watch them chop
someone's arm off with a shovel!
We didn't find out about
most of it until later.
And now? What are you doing now?
You talk every day.
You're against rearmament,
you're against banning the Communists,
you're against the old Nazis
getting back their positions.
But what are you doing about it?
Nothing!
What am I supposed to be doing?
- Anything! I don't know.
It can't go on like this.
Everything has to change now.
"Everything"?
That damned dog actually
ate all of the potato salad!
- Let them ban us.
They can't keep us down.
Erase us from your democracy.
Ban anything that doesn't suit you.
We'll see if you can keep me down.
They couldn't even manage to do that
in the camp.
He shouldn't be drinking.
Shouldn't we take the bottle from him?
I don't know.
Dear God...
Dear God, please,
make everything good again.
Please, please, please...
Will you come on!
Or are you chicken?
We can do it.
Is it all true what you told us before?
Don't your parents notice
when you're not home at night?
I'm always back home by morning.
You just have to be quiet.
My parents are heavy sleepers.
When we visit you,
will you show us everything?
If my boyfriend has time,
we'll show you around.
You have a boyfriend?
- Of course! How old do you think I am?
And he lets you go on vacation
by yourself?
I found this while I was cleaning.
You eat this junk?
With your stomach problems?
I'm too fat.
That doesn't matter.
You've got something in reserve.
If you'd eat with us properly at the table...
But no, you raid the fridge at night
when no one's looking.
But why I should I care?
You're so grown up.
You know what you're doing,
But I'm throwing this away.
At night it feels like a tank is driving
over me and grinding up my bones.
Grandma,
I just want to stay in bed all the time.
The main thing is not to give up.
You have to fight.
There are so many ways
to change something.
In your political party, in your union...
I was always fighting.
Working conditions were very different
back then.
You can't understand that now.
I was a porcelain painter.
Have you been to see the doctor?
It's not natural.
You're much too young.
Listen!
This was under Ursula's bench.
"I'm horrified by my greedy eyes,
my pinched lips..."
- So stupid. - That's so Ursula.
- "...my bitten nails.
I can feel my skin shriveling up.
I can hear my heart quietly wearing down.
My guts are screaming
and my mouth is talking about grammar."
Let me see!
- Let me see!
Where are you going?
You haven't been here for a week.
You're doing worse in all subjects,
two grades lower in some.
You're in danger of being left back.
Your name came up at the faculty meeting.
No one understands it.
Ursel, what's going on?
Do you get enough sleep?
You always look so tired.
Or is it because your mother has a job?
In any case, you can't afford
to miss any more classes.
Good morning.
I used to sit here every afternoon.
In a remote corner
that the waiter usually ignored.
I would pretend to be doing homework.
But I was really doing nothing.
I wanted to be alone in public.
Everything around me became
a numb, impenetrable mass.
My life was a constant flight
from eyes and words.
I was made of parchment,
crumpled, transparent,
passive,
easily blown away.
Excuse me.
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
Everything's fine.
Pull yourself together...
Don't give up.
Don't collapse.
Don't be so sensitive.
Don't be so hypersensitive.
Be healthy. Be normal.
Be fine. Be fine again.
Be a normal girl.
Be a normal young girl.
Be a happy, normal young girl.
A laughing, happy, normal...
- Hey, Miss!
Are you asleep?
What are you looking for?
Hello!
A pound of...
A pound of...the white, sweet stuff.
Can she mean sugar?
Yes, sugar.
Sugar!
There you are!
Are you from abroad?
Germany pretty!
Goodbye.
Smash,
smash,
smash...
puncture,
expire,
puncture.
Shatter. Smash.
Shatter.
Smash the chill.
Smash the chill.
Smash the chill.
Shatter.
Smash the chill.
Shatter.
Smash the chill. Shatter.
Smash the chill.
Shatter the armor.
Shatter the armor.
Shatter the armor.
Shatter the armor.
Shatter the armor.
Smash the chill of shame.
Smash the chill of shame.
Smash the chill of shame.
Smash the chill of shame.
Shatter the walls of fear.
Smash the walls of fear.
Smash the chill of fear.
Shatter the walls of fear.
Shatter the chill of fear.
Shattering in pain.
Dissolving in pain.
What are you doing here?
It's too loud at home.
I have three little brothers
and sisters.
Our apartment is too small.
I want to do my homework here.
At least keep the door closed.
No one's allowed to be in school
in the afternoon. It's forbidden.
I could no longer cope
with this weight on my shoulders.
There was nowhere I felt at home.
I drifted through the days
like a cork on the sea.
I had given up being all right.
I felt superfluous.
I didn't even try to prove
the opposite to myself
and I didn't know
how much longer I'd be able
to convince everyone else
that I was only tired and stressed
because my mother had to work
and that I had an ulcer.
Sometimes I was heavy as a stone
that had to carry itself.
Sometimes my head lay over the world
light as a bubble,
with all sounds coming from far away,
friendly and indistinct.
But there was always a machine
raging unattended in my head
without a switch
that would turn it off.
Hello?
Hello, Ursel.
Is that you?
Ursula, say something!
Why don't you say something?
Stop fooling around.
Yeah?
Were you lying in bed again?
Get up now, you hear me?
You can't throw the whole day away.
You have to produce some energy, you know?
- Yes.
Put on some proper clothes.
Yeah.
And eat at the table with us tonight.
We're going to get stricter
around here, understand?
Yeah.
"You should be able to burn like a candle."
"You should be able to burn like a candle..."
"At both ends simultaneously."
SHORT STORY
SHORT STORY
Burn. Burn up.
Burn. Burn up.
Joy.
Burn. Burn.
Burn the void in the fire.
Burn the void in the fire...
Burn up the chill in the fire.
Burn up the chill in the fire.
Burn up the chill in the fire...
Burn in the fire of joy.
Burn in the fire of joy.
Burn in the fire of laughter...
Burn up in burning laughter.
Burn up in burning laughter...
They still didn't say a word.
In the fire of joy, in the fire of joy...
How could you have an inner life
and an outer life at the same time?
How did that happen?
A cigarette fell on my skirt.
Were you afraid?
No.
Last year my uniform caught on fire.
I was very scared.
But there's no war anywhere.
Yes, there is. In Algeria.
Didn't you know that?
That's not a war.
What would you call it?
The stupid, immature Algerians
are driving the French,
who've done everything for them,
out of the country.
Would you call it a war?
There. Machine gun.
The newspapers call it
unrest or an uprising.
War is when...
That's the new form of war.
Soon there'll be war
all over Africa and Asia.
- Hey, there's no swimming here!
Come.
Come, let's paddle on the lake.
We can't.
I'm sure the boat belongs to someone.
I need to go home anyway.
My mother's waiting.
How old are you,
18...20?
I'm 18.
Where I come from,
18-year-old women already have kids.
They definitely don't go back
to their mother.
I like math best.
Nothing moves,
it's all very quiet.
There's always a solution.
And only one.
You know right away
if you did it right.
Sometimes I imagine
how nice it would be
to be a square or a circle.
To be completely self-contained.
Nothing could happen to me.
Or maybe a rock on the road.
I'd see everything.
All the people who walked by.
But no one could hurt me,
not even if they stepped on me.
And beggars couldn't hurt you.
If a beggar's sitting on the street,
I always make a detour to avoid crying.
I want everybody to always be happy.
Do you understand that?
I understand that you're very unhappy.
No.
No.
No!
Are you afraid of black people?
Then what?
My Aunt Flo is visiting.
What does that mean?
And something might happen.
I could have a baby.
I want to go home.
No...
Stay still.
Nothing will happen!
Stay still, nothing will happen.
No...
- I'll be careful.
Nothing will happen.
Keep your legs tight.
Tighter.
Put your legs together.
Nothing will happen.
I want to go home.
But I want to stay here tonight.
If you want to write me,
here's an address.
We still have time.
We don't have to do that here.
I need to get to the train station.
My train's leaving at 7:12.
When are you coming back?
I'll be back in Paris tomorrow evening
and then...
I can't tell you yet.
My brother's there.
I'm going to Algeria.
I don't have an address there.
Write me anyway.
Maybe I'll be able to read it one day.
Are you sad?
Oh, no.
I'm lazy about writing anyway.
Lazy about writing?
What does that mean?
Lazy about writing.
Lazy about writing.
Lazy about writing!
Nothing happened at all.
You don't need to be worried at all.
You don't need to explain anything.
You can do as you please.
Come and go as...
This is Mrs. Scheuner.
We called last night to report
a missing person.
Everything's fine.
My daughter is back home.
Can't I at least explain where I was?
Then please leave a message.
I have to get to work.
Fine.
I'll bake a cake
with nuts, almonds, poppy seed,
raisins, currants,
chocolate sprinkles, candied orange peel,
butter, sugar and eggs.
No flour. No flour!
No flour please.
But why didn't you ever say anything?
Everything we do is for you.
You have everything.
Everything you need!
Don't you?
I...
I mean, what's wrong with you?
To get something done,
first you need to do away with something:
yourself.
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
JUTTA BRÜCKNER
premiered on February 8th, 1980,
at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
The German premiere took place
on February 22th, 1980,
at the International Forum
of New Cinema in Berlin.
The digitization was done,
in cooperation with Jutta Brückner Films,
at CinePostproduction in Munich,
using the original negative
from the Deutsche Kinemathek collection
and the sound from ZDF's broadcast archives.
We would like to thank ZDF
for its kind cooperation
and the FFA (Film Funding Institution)
for its financial support.
For years, I'd tried to forget.
I remembered places,
houses, public squares,
other people.
But I'd blocked myself out
of my own memories.
I kept inventing new destinations
to make sure I was constantly looking ahead.
Whenever I got too close to myself,
I frantically retreated into work
or some paralyzing illness.
By the time I was 30 years old,
I realized that I wasn't free of the past.
I was living with the petrified heart
of a thirteen-year-old.
And I forced myself to remember.
Summer.
"And when he went out into the world,
he found a multitude of wonders
just waited to be discovered:
cashmere scarves,
embroidered with golden flowers,
as gossamer as cobwebs.
Carved chests of ivory
filled with Russian tea.
An old violin with a picture on the back.
A large chess set
made of coral and amber.
Wine glasses trimmed
in turquoise and silver.
A large, marvelous sugar bowl
made of mother-of-pearl.
A silk niqab adorned with gold..."
Dad, what's a niqab?
Come on!
Jump, princess!
You think I'll make a new friend here?
Sure, in a nice place like this!
That's par for the course in our society:
evicting people
just because they're unmarried.
But we're more entitled to the apartment
because of the child.
We need the room.
Who got evicted?
THE HUNGER YEARS
The people who lived here
before we did.
Why don't they get married?
She needs to sleep now.
She'll oversleep again tomorrow.
You should explain it to her.
They're in a common-law marriage.
- What's that?
Is that really necessary right now?
The woman is getting
a war widow's pension.
If she marries her boyfriend,
she loses the pension.
So, time to sleep now.
You don't have to know everything.
Mom, do you think I'll make
a new friend here?
What do you want for Christmas?
You said you wanted for a big accordion.
If I went back to work,
you could have a big accordion.
You think you could manage on your own?
I'd be out of the house all day.
They're playing catch.
Ursula just told me that she wants
a big accordion for Christmas.
Now she's going to say:
"It would all go much faster
if I had a sales job.
At least for a while.
We could buy a used car, too."
Now is when he usually says:
"People will think I can't support my family.
My wife doesn't need to work.
I earn enough.
We have what we need."
And I would love to go away
somewhere on vacation.
After the Latin test tomorrow
I won't have to practice anymore.
Then I'll go outside with all my balls
and they're sure to let me play with them.
I start on the first of the month.
They hired me right away.
It's just temporary at first.
Thanks.
What's in there?
Just in case!
In case there are bad times again.
Mom, when you're working during the day,
Helga can come over.
So I'm not all alone.
Breaking through my timidity.
Calling a spade a spade.
Being passionate about myself,
being curious about myself.
Communicating with myself.
Asking myself questions,
listening to myself,
answering myself.
Nothing's going to change for you.
If you want to do it that bad.
THE HUNGER YEARS
THE HUNGER YEARS
in a Land of Wealth
A FILM BY JUTTA BRÜCKNER
Else Heim und brother-in-law Paul
say hello to Mother and Zwickau.
They hope that Grandma will be able
to see her grandkids soon.
The Grützel family in Cologne says hello
to all their old neighbors in Leipzig.
And Werner and Margot in Hamm
are thinking about everyone
who stayed behind in Rostock,
especially little Hans-Joachim...
I know a new rhyme.
- ...whom they wish a happy sixth birthday.
"We hope the whole family is reunited soon."
The hostess had a cabinet
Twelve feet wide and 15 feet deep
Inside were all the turnips stems
Which in her youth she'd keep
And like a tom-tom-tom she'd beat
What's a "tom-tom-tom"?
It's not that I'm complaining.
But he could at least lift a finger
to help on laundry day.
Sunday's always my laundry day now.
When I get home in the evening,
it's too late.
So a little help once in a while...
I'm not talking about much,
but one round of shopping or dusting.
When your father was in that accident,
I thought, "I'll do anything,
as long as he just comes homes,
even if he can never walk again,
as long as he's here
and I don't have to bear everything
on my own.
A single woman, my child,
is a nobody in the eyes of the world.
But when he died,
I actually...
managed well.
Mom.
Mom!
Mom...
Mom, I'm sick.
There's blood in my panties.
That's when you know you're getting old.
That's perfectly natural.
That happens to all women
when they reach puberty.
It happens to you, too?
- Yes, of course.
But from now on
you have to be very careful around boys.
You can't mess around with them
at all anymore.
And you can't go swimming either
or change your underwear.
So I can't play with boys anymore?
You're too old to be playing with boys.
This is never going to stop?
Yes, it will! When you're old as I am.
But until then, every month.
And when it happens, just say
"I don't feel well"
or "Aunt Flo is visiting."
What does that mean?
Well...
What does that mean?
You never told us that.
I don't know either.
That's what my mother told me.
Now stop being so curious.
You'll learn all of that in school
in biology class.
Mom, I don't want it.
Can't I do anything to keep it
from happening again?
Dear...
I know it's not nice.
But it's Nature's way.
Someone has to have the children.
You'll realize one day
that being a woman is a beautiful thing.
Lovely! It looks brand-new.
Ursel?
What's wrong?
- What...
She ate too much cake.
She's got a stomach ache.
Did you know that both of Georg's aunts
got into trouble when they were girls?
Well, I mean, a person should
be able to control herself.
I guess carelessness runs in that family.
Of course, they had to get rid of them.
They probably...
went to some back alley abortionist.
Aren't you worried about Ursel?
You read in the papers about latchkey kids.
Erna!
I don't want to see my daughters arguing.
Gerda, promise me
you'll keep an eye on Ursel.
Don't let her fall into godless ways!
I can trust my child.
She's the best pupil in her class.
A real woman will not be broken.
Slowpoke!
Dimwit!
You silly dimwit!
Reaching into the raspberry bushes
with scratched arms,
blueberry juice
staining my teeth and fingers,
summer days digging holes
behind the hedges,
hiding places in damp cellars,
dangling my bare legs in rainwater
in a rusty barrel,
cooling down mosquito bites.
Coal dust.
Puddles of dirty water
with an iridescent greasy film.
Five hundred marbles in a bag,
whole ones, halves, multi-colored.
In every color!
Jumping rope
until I'm out of breath.
Calluses on my feet
that never go away,
never ever.
Gernot!
Gernot...
Ursula?
Stop it this instant!
That's your Sunday dress.
Ursula!
Light on, knife shows
Grandma takes off all her clothes
In you go
Out you come
And little Klaus is quickly done
Light out, knife shows
Grandma takes off all her clothes
In you go, out you come
Little Klaus is quickly done
The hostess had a pastor
Who always wore a mourning band
He couldn't ever forget the day
That nasty syphilis
Ate his tom-tom away
Mine are bigger than yours.
No way.
Mine are just as big.
And I'm much taller than you.
I'm more muscular than you.
Nope, I wouldn't say that.
We'll see about that.
Mine really are bigger.
No, I don't think so. You're lying.
Silly girls.
Soon they'll wind up with a baby.
Then it's too late.
When I turn 18,
I'm going to go on a bike tour.
All across Europe,
all the way to Sicily.
Now, now!
You don't think I'm going to allow that.
But Gernot is allowed to.
Gernot is a boy.
That's different.
I don't understand
why that should be a reason.
With regard to the state of emergency
in the Soviet sector of Berlin:
As of 1 pm on June 17th, 1953,
a state of emergency was declared
in the Soviet sector of Berlin.
All protests...
However you choose to spin it,
it is a disgrace when a socialist
government shoots at workers.
At workers?
- ...are banned on streets and public squares
as well as in public buildings.
At agitators! Do you know
how many West Berlin groups
went over to agitate?
- Yeah, there were probably a few.
The rest is just your propaganda.
...the commandant of the Soviet sector
in Berlin...
A profound outrage
has our working people in its grip.
Outrage over the attempt to abuse them.
Outrage over the fact
that agitators have tried...
...criticism of government measures...
...on these heroes of liberty...
...who hate slavery and love freedom...
...that agents und criminal elements...
- ...against other victims
of this cruel tyranny...
...the no less notorious German Party...
...a wave of bitterness and desperation...
...in the same streets, through which
on May 1st, just a few weeks ago,
our working people
carried the flags of their party
and their nation...
...against slavery and oppression...
...sang battle songs,
yesterday evening and this morning
fascist gangs began singing
the Horst Wessel Song
or broke out in shouts of
"We want Hitler back."
...that Germans will not be slaves.
...and the patriotic initiative
of our populace and our republic...
...our desire for freedom...
...social justice, prosperity...
- ...behind the Iron Curtain...
...was spilled by brutal, cruel dictators
to maintain their tyrannical domination.
...to insist on unity and liberty.
Thus, two worlds exist in close proximity
right now.
It is particularly evident here.
A sign here on Kochstrasse,
still in the West sector:
"Festive wines from Baden."
And a little later, a bit farther away...
Why don't they give them their freedom?
Here, West Berliners looking over
and over there only a few GDR officers,
who are also, it would seem,
bored.
This concludes our tour...
I just hope there's not another war.
If so, it was all for nothing.
You can't sleep?
Don't be afraid, Mom.
Do you remember,
when we were on the train...
when we jumped from the train
and were bombed in the trench
by the strafers?
Mom!
What is freedom?
Well, I think...
Well,
it's when we're doing well
and don't have to be afraid.
Send a package to East Germany
as often as you can.
Remember not to include any printed
materials in your packages.
No newspapers, magazines and the like.
And now I'll tell you
what they're really in need of.
Please write this down.
So, grease,
meat products, sugar,
milk, powdered eggs, cheese
and above all, of course,
bananas and oranges.
We will not rest and we will not stop.
I make this vow for the entire German people,
until all of Germany is reunited
in peace and freedom.
GERMAN WAR GRAVES COMMISSION
Yes? - My father said that the word
"freedom" is being misused
and that they shouted "freedom"
in the East on the 17th of June
when they broke an old concentration
camp commandant out of prison.
I didn't want to say that in class.
Yes, it's a good thing
you didn't mention that.
Please don't mention it again.
Yes, but is that true?
I can't say anything specific about it.
I only know that claims like that are...
usually used for propaganda purposes.
I was never allowed out at night.
But this one time my mother let me
and there was your father.
You now, your father was a handsome man.
That evening he kept offering me,
all evening long, really,
candy from this gigantic bag.
I got such a stomach ache.
You were wearing
your beautiful blue velvet dress.
That was the first time I'd been out
since going underground.
I think we ate at least a pound
of candy that night.
That was the first thing
I had to teach you:
not to be such a spendthrift.
Why had you gone underground?
The Nazis were after me
because I passed out pamphlets.
There were these skyrockets,
which we would set off
in front of store entrances
and then run away.
There'd be a bang
and pamphlets would come flying out of them.
Why weren't you allowed
to pass out pamphlets?
I was shaking when he told me that.
He had to promise me
never to do that again.
You never did anything again
after that, Dad?
Would you rather he'd ended up
in a concentration camp?
Dad,
I love you so much.
What's wrong?
Are you okay?
Dad, tell me about the old days.
During the Ruhr Uprising,
we got sent a machine gun.
It had been taken apart
and put into a package.
We brought it from the train station
on a handcart.
And we put it back together
in a comrade's kitchen.
So there it was.
We didn't do anything with it.
Because the world revolution never happened.
But it eased our minds just having it.
In an emergency,
we'd be able to attack.
It was pointed at the church tower.
Back then we were all rabid atheists.
When I dropped out of school...
I dropped out of school, because
my brother and I had gotten it
into our heads...
Well?
Dreamer! What are you thinking about?
There were these young people
carrying posters.
There was a rifle on them,
which was broken in half.
I'll bet Dad will be interested
when I tell him.
Don't tell me you two are Reds!
No, no.
It...
It's from the old days.
In his family,
they were...
Naturally, some of it stays with you.
Like an old habit.
Yes, it used to be completely different.
My husband also had a few guys...
- But Dad said
himself yesterday that he passed out
pamphlets during the Nazi time.
And they want to elect him chairman
of the work council.
What for?
Your husband isn't a laborer.
And the other day you told me yourself:
"I hope there's no war!"
Stop butting into grownup conversations.
Never mind, Gerda.
She doesn't even know
what she's talking about.
But I don't get what your husband is up to.
Everyone is against war.
So are we.
But that's not the way
to go about it.
That's not something you discuss.
What happens in our family
is nobody else's business.
Do you always have to be with them?
They're so incredibly stupid.
Your mother thinks unions are crude.
Standing outside all day long.
I had no idea how taxing that is.
And all that for 280 marks a month.
You two could have at least
hung up the laundry.
Good day. You're their daughter?
What do you want?
Can I speak to your mother?
My mother's at work.
She'll be home after closing.
Your mother works?
I didn't know that.
Would you please...
Please give her this letter.
What do you want from my mother?
Gimpy!
Gimpy!
"Dear Mrs. Scheuner,
I'll get right to the point:
Please stop contesting this divorce.
Your husband doesn't love you anymore.
You know this as well as I do.
He and I would like to start a new life.
Please don't stand in the way
of our happiness.
Your opposition won't make you
any happier,
but it will make two people unhappy.
Liesel Schmitt.
PS.
I will exert my influence to ensure
that you receive a generous
divorce settlement."
How dare that woman
write something like that?
You have to do something about it!
Dad...
Please.
Oh, honey...
How can I explain it to you?
She's such a wretched creature.
Her husband was shot to death
while on the run.
You'll understand when you grow up.
What's the matter?
Did you get a bad grade?
It happens sometimes.
I get sad for no reason.
It just happens.
Don't eat it all at once.
Whore.
Filthy bitch.
I'm fine with him leaving me alone.
But that only means he's got someone else.
Mom, do I have to put up with that?
You can't let it show.
Men want to have the feeling
that a woman...
That's just the way it is.
You have to act
like you care.
Mom?
I'll always do well in school
and study
and never leave you.
Then you'll become a high school teacher
and I'll move in with you
and keep house for you.
Only if your father dies before me,
of course.
I mean, it could happen.
You never know.
Listen,
I think we should buy you
your first brassiere.
A large vase from China
with rose-colored almond blossoms
on golden branches
bedecked with dewdrops.
A shiny seashell, in which you could
hear the sound of the sea
when you held it to your ear.
A fan with a handle studded
in sparkling crimson jewels.
When you unfolded it,
a peacock spread its iridescent plumage.
The hot, silent darkness enveloped them
like a velvet blanket.
He spoke to her, but she could not
understand what he was saying,
her heart was beating so loud,
as if would stop,
and his strong, warm hands
stroked her bare arms.
He placed one arm around her hips
and the other around her shoulder.
She felt the tight muscles of his thighs
against her body.
The buttons on his...
The hostess had a waitress
She...
The hostess had a thrifty cook...
The hostess had a picket fence...
The hostess had a Ford V8...
The hos...
The hostess!
The hostess had body lice...
The hostess also had a kid...
The hostess also had a kid...
The hostess also had a son
Who masturbated...
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you!
If you only knew how much I love you."
Do I have to trim the liver?
It's trimmed
when you get it from the butcher.
It's like dumplings.
You've made them so often. Eggs...
Take your hand out of your pocket!
Mrs. Merkheim?
This is my daughter.
You finally get to meet her.
Your mother says...
- You needn't be formal. She's not that old.
...that you're a very good student
and quite helpful around the house.
She only had one C
on her last report card,
otherwise all As and Bs.
We have good reason
to be proud of her.
Yes, well...
Keep up the good work.
You're always embarrassing me.
People think I'm this goody two shoes.
Mrs. Merkheim has a son
who barely gets promoted each year.
As quiet as she just was,
she's not happy either.
I hate it when you touch me all the time
and tell me what I do wrong.
I know it myself!
What's the matter now?
Other girls do much better than me.
That's not true.
You're the best in your class.
This hairdo and these clothes
make me look so plain.
They all laugh at me.
I want to take dance lessons, too.
They all get to.
And they all have boyfriends.
Mom, it's totally innocent.
Don't think that anything...
But they're all going to parties
and I want to be included.
- You don't need to be.
Those parents will be surprised
when their daughters
get left back for being boy crazy.
We're keeping an eye on our girl.
I'm really not being petty.
You can join the accordion club,
girl scouts or nature lovers,
for all I care,
but basement parties
are out of the question.
You boneheads! Wake up!
Imagine you're after some blonde
and you're horny as hell.
Sorry about that, Miss Scheuner.
Well, it's true!
Break!
And after the break,
from the top and with gusto.
I want to formally apologize to you
for our conductor.
That was inappropriate
for a young lady to hear.
But you know how it is:
Tough on the inside, soft on the inside.
May I offer you a cigarette?
Yes.
Your first?
No.
Can I help you?
Don't come any closer.
Don't come any closer.
My God, I just wanted to help you.
Is anyone here?
PREVENT
THE BAN OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY
It's unfair that we're made this way.
You should be able to rip out your ovaries.
Your whole life afraid
of getting pregnant again.
How was it?
Was it nice?
Yes.
It was nice.
Good night.
Maybe we should talk it over...
all that stuff.
But you read a lot.
Night.
Good night.
I was 23 when I met Georg.
Before then...
None of us ever went to the theater
or the movies, dancing or drinking.
My mother always said:
"A decent girl
lives with her mother
as long as possible."
Which is why I never got to be young
in that sense.
At the time I didn't miss it.
Now sometimes I think...
Well! Who knows what the point of it was.
We're all going.
They're in my class.
Put your glasses back on.
You know the saying:
"Girls who wear glasses never get passes"?
Well, I think bookish women are lovely.
With five kids in my family,
it was out of the question.
I admire anyone who stays in school.
How do like it here?
I think it's spiffy.
Yes, it's nice.
But I want my home to be nicer.
Cozier.
Cigarette?
- Yes, sure.
One day I'm going to build
myself a house.
Not just for me, of course,
but for the family I'll have.
Everyone here looks so spiffy.
You should wear black suits.
With high-necked white blouses.
That would look good on you.
Do you want to be a teacher?
I would've liked to become a teacher.
Do you have any siblings?
No.
We've been waiting for you
for two hours.
Come home with us this instant.
Excuse me, I...
just wanted to take your daughter
out for a bit.
I had no idea you were worried...
I'm Otto Bunker.
Aunt Hildegard and Aunt Lotti
both had...
If you show up one day with a child
before you're married, I'll...
I'll kill myself!
I couldn't bear...
to see my only daughter
throw her life away.
Pirate queen with two pistols,
one on each side.
I cross the glaciers
of Mont Blanc alone
until I stand at the peak.
The snow rages all around me,
but I don't budge an inch.
And when I get out of my race car,
the tires are smoking,
but I take off my glasses...
Once you learn English,
you'll get a better position for sure.
We might be able to move
to a nicer neighborhood.
It's nice enough here.
But it would be so nice
if we had a dining room.
And you'd have an office
where you could be undisturbed
when you do the accounts.
I stand in front of the class
and read my poems.
Everyone listens in awe
and they get printed in the school paper.
Frank comes up to me
at Veronica's party,
because someone told him about it.
We dance together all night long.
We tell each other things
that no one else can understand.
- One, two, three!
Isar, Iller, Lech and Inn
Into the Danube they flow
Kocher, Jagst and Regen
Head towards it also
Get down to the yard!
- I feel sick.
You want some?
Don't be afraid.
You'll feel much better afterwards.
I guess you didn't get invited
to the party either.
Listen, you better not tell on me!
A vacuum cleaner with a curtain attachment.
A Persian rug.
New duvets. A Chippendale cabinet.
Gertrude's mother is a journalist.
Every night exciting people drop by.
Erika's mother is divorced
and has her own store.
Being divorced is sophisticated.
Marianne's mother doesn't work at all.
But she's always busy with all the people
constantly coming to visit.
They eat their cake
with tiny knives and forks.
A washing machine. A vacuum cleaner
with curtain attachment and...
New duvets.
A Chippendale cabinet.
A vacation in Italy.
And none of their mothers
sells beds in a department store.
And none of their fathers works
on the staff of a shipping company.
All the girls go to dance lessons and to the
ice cream parlor. They get to wear nylons.
None of them have to sit at home
in the evening like me.
Moping again?
And always that sweater.
It's all you ever wear.
And that jungle hair.
You think that's pretty?
At least the other girls' mothers
get their hair done sometimes
and don't always wear
such old homemade outfits.
How does that look?
I can't stand it anymore.
I can't stand it anymore.
I can't stand it anymore.
Say something!
You just sit there
watching your daughter insult me.
Her upbringing has always been
your department.
Well, my mother was the dearest thing
in the world to me.
Yes, your relationship is...
Can't you knock first?
We don't look at all alike.
You've become too much for her
and your mother doesn't know
how to control you anymore.
I don't want to go back home.
Mom wouldn't even miss me.
She doesn't like me.
She won't even talk to me anymore.
She's punishing me
by not talking to me at all.
For a whole week.
It's like I'm not even there.
Your mother is helpless.
She was an obedient girl.
That's why she doesn't understand you.
You're too different.
She can't expect me to turn out
just like she did.
She wants me to do exactly what she did.
And I'm also supposed
to be grateful
for being able to be a different person
than she is.
Grandma,
every night I have these terrible dreams.
In one dream I had recently
I'm standing with one foot on a globe
that's dropping deeper and deeper.
At the same time
I'm growing into outer space.
It's pulling and it rips me in half
and I have the feeling
that it's tearing me apart.
Don't think about it.
You can stay here tonight
and help me sort through all the items.
"Do not be surprised, brethren,
if the world hates you.
We know that we have passed
from death to life..."
She's become so angry.
All the sweetness is gone.
And she was such a friendly child.
Now she just wants, wants, wants!
She has no idea what a sacrifice it is
for us to send her to high school.
Now she wants to have everything
the other girls do.
"Whoever has earthly possessions and
notices a brother in need, but withholds
his compassion from him,
how can God's love
be present in him?"
- Those kids' parents are businessmen,
managers and civil servants.
I mean, we can't keep up with them socially.
And they don't even need the schooling.
They marry someone rich.
It's fine for them to take dance lessons.
A woman can either dance
or she can't.
What does she need lessons for?
I never learned to dance
and I was the best dancer far and wide.
And famous for my pretty little feet.
"... we have confidence
in the presence of God.
and receive from him anything we ask,
because we keep..."- Erna!
Make me some coffee.
Really strong.
Please?
It was never this bad with Ursel before.
She just sits there reading.
And her kidneys are getting
worse and worse.
She's getting younger and smaller.
My poor child.
Look.
I had your brooch re-set.
Your father gave it to me
when Franz was born.
Does Georg give you enough jewelry?
He's home evenings a lot now.
He's not going to any more meetings.
And he didn't run for a seat
on the work council.
Keep an eye on Ursula.
She's a feisty one.
She takes after me, the little hussy.
When we'd been married a year,
Georg and I finally got assigned
an apartment.
And I had to move away from my mother.
She brought me to the train station
and I cried the whole way down.
And I gave her my entire wages,
226.20 marks,
just as I'd done every month.
Then Georg picked me up
at the train station when I arrived.
I didn't have a penny to my name.
Community was always
the most important thing to me.
So I dropped out
and trained to be a lathe operator.
See, all my friends in the Free
Proletarian Youth were laborers.
But I never got the hang of lathe operating.
My teacher told my mother:
"Ma'am, the kid has two left hands.
He needs mental work."
So I got trained at the employment office
as an assistant clerk.
But as soon as I finished, the massive
unemployment began in 1929.
And I was out of work for seven years.
Some unemployed people were
homeless and living in tents
on eight marks a week
in unemployment benefits.
In the winter they had to find rooms
and pay the rent from that money.
After seven years, I finally found work.
And then the war started.
And you were happy just to stay alive.
When it was finally all over
and life had returned
to some degree of normalcy,
I was over 40 years old.
We had at least 15 years stolen from us,
in which we barely had enough to eat
or clothes on our backs
and were sent to our deaths.
Fifteen years!
That's enough, girls.
Gather up the bats.
What's that?
- Let's see it.
Well, we used to sing this.
We would wear black skirts,
white blouses and neckerchiefs.
That was the uniform
of the BDM.
The first time I went home
in that uniform,
our janitor, an old SPD member, stopped
carrying my bike into the basement.
He'd always done it for me before.
Naturally I thought that he was too old
to understand
that great things were happening.
I felt sorry for him.
When we woke up, there were
six-and-a-half million murdered Jews
and who know how many dead soldiers.
I'm a member of the Society
for Judeo-Christian Cooperation.
It's impossible to make abends for all that.
But you have to start somewhere.
Will we learn about that in History?
Before graduation. But you have
to discuss it with your teacher.
Not enough time.
That's how it was in my sister's class.
Our flag flutters before us
We move into the future, man by man
We march for Hitler
Through night and through trouble
With the flag of our youth
For freedom and bread
Our fla...
Our flag flutters before us
GERMANY, MY FATHERLAND
On July 7th, 1956, the West German
Parliament overrules the SPD
and institutes compulsory military service.
GERMAN YOUTH, DECIDE
On August 17th, 1956,
the West German Constitutional Court declares
the Communist Party of Germany
unconstitutional,
ordering its disbandment
and banning the creation
of any follow-up organizations.
Federal Secretary of the Interior Schröder
declares:
"The appropriate authorities will carry out
this decree in accordance with the law.
As concerns the prosecution
of criminal offenses,
I do not wish to anticipate the ruling
of the judicial authorities.
But I think I can say
that mass prosecutions
are not under consideration.
There will be no waves of arrests.
This is not about minor followers
of the Communist Party.
Who are they? Misguided workers
who fell prey to inflammatory speeches;
retirees whom the Communists
promised pots of gold;
young people who saw these plans
for a coup as an adventure;
a few artists and intellectuals
who were unable to resist the seductive power
of dialectical materialism.
There will be no witch hunt.
No one will take away their jobs.
All of our security measures are always
guided by a single notion:
to do what is necessary
with restraint
and without being overzealous.
They were good then.
Yes, they were.
Do you bake with butter or margarine?
- Not with butter.
It's too expensive.
You'd need to put in a half pound.
We accepted too much.
Yes, you're right.
I think they'll get back on their feet.
- Got to.
Well, cheers.
- Cheers.
When breakfast rolls cost five cents,
that's just...
How are you supposed to pay for that?
I wonder how people with large
families manage. - Thanks, Liesel.
That's for me, right?
You have a lot more money than me.
No, last Sunday you had a lot more.
Shall we stretch our legs a little
before dinner?
Yes, but slowly please.
Yes, living well makes you really lazy.
My mother always said:
"Eat breakfast like an emperor,
lunch like a king,
dinner like a beggar."
We'll do the dishes later.
- Afterwards.
Look, your lawn's been trampled.
No, no, my boy.
It all started much earlier.
You never put all your cards
on the table.
You started flirting with the SPD
while we were in the youth movement.
How can you forget everything you learned?
- Yeah, yeah,
"freedom" and "democracy"!
That's just window dressing.
Mom!
I was running across a meadow,
where there was a huge viaduct.
Very narrow.
On each side stood a ladder.
I had to climb over the viaduct. I wasn't
allowed to keep walking on the meadow.
And there was someone at my heels.
I could hear him panting.
Down the other side again,
into a house and up to the attic.
The man behind me got closer and closer.
I had to crawl up the chimney.
Once I'd made it,
he couldn't be able to get me anymore.
When I was halfway up,
he pulled my legs
and I couldn't get up.
But he couldn't pull me down...
Did you call me?
I don't think so.
The party's just getting started.
We're going to Italy next summer.
This year we got the washing machine.
Okay, okay.
In '34 I was still in the resistance
passing out pamphlets.
We would set off these skyrockets
in front of doorways
and then run away.
They would explode
and pamphlets would come
flying out of them.
During the Ruhr Uprising,
he was sent a package
a machine gun inside.
He brought it from the train station
and put it back together
in a comrade's kitchen.
Is it dinner time again already?
What happened to his arm?
A guard at Dachau cut off his arm
with a shovel.
Why didn't they send you
to a concentration camp?
You were passing out pamphlets
in late '33. You told me that!
I was in hiding.
And they stopped looking for me
after a while.
Fighting against such a far-reaching system
is pointless.
It was just pointless!
They could have helped us
from abroad.
But not here on the inside.
You had no courage.
No, I wasn't a hero.
But you have no idea what's it like
to live under that kind of regime.
You can't just watch them chop
someone's arm off with a shovel!
We didn't find out about
most of it until later.
And now? What are you doing now?
You talk every day.
You're against rearmament,
you're against banning the Communists,
you're against the old Nazis
getting back their positions.
But what are you doing about it?
Nothing!
What am I supposed to be doing?
- Anything! I don't know.
It can't go on like this.
Everything has to change now.
"Everything"?
That damned dog actually
ate all of the potato salad!
- Let them ban us.
They can't keep us down.
Erase us from your democracy.
Ban anything that doesn't suit you.
We'll see if you can keep me down.
They couldn't even manage to do that
in the camp.
He shouldn't be drinking.
Shouldn't we take the bottle from him?
I don't know.
Dear God...
Dear God, please,
make everything good again.
Please, please, please...
Will you come on!
Or are you chicken?
We can do it.
Is it all true what you told us before?
Don't your parents notice
when you're not home at night?
I'm always back home by morning.
You just have to be quiet.
My parents are heavy sleepers.
When we visit you,
will you show us everything?
If my boyfriend has time,
we'll show you around.
You have a boyfriend?
- Of course! How old do you think I am?
And he lets you go on vacation
by yourself?
I found this while I was cleaning.
You eat this junk?
With your stomach problems?
I'm too fat.
That doesn't matter.
You've got something in reserve.
If you'd eat with us properly at the table...
But no, you raid the fridge at night
when no one's looking.
But why I should I care?
You're so grown up.
You know what you're doing,
But I'm throwing this away.
At night it feels like a tank is driving
over me and grinding up my bones.
Grandma,
I just want to stay in bed all the time.
The main thing is not to give up.
You have to fight.
There are so many ways
to change something.
In your political party, in your union...
I was always fighting.
Working conditions were very different
back then.
You can't understand that now.
I was a porcelain painter.
Have you been to see the doctor?
It's not natural.
You're much too young.
Listen!
This was under Ursula's bench.
"I'm horrified by my greedy eyes,
my pinched lips..."
- So stupid. - That's so Ursula.
- "...my bitten nails.
I can feel my skin shriveling up.
I can hear my heart quietly wearing down.
My guts are screaming
and my mouth is talking about grammar."
Let me see!
- Let me see!
Where are you going?
You haven't been here for a week.
You're doing worse in all subjects,
two grades lower in some.
You're in danger of being left back.
Your name came up at the faculty meeting.
No one understands it.
Ursel, what's going on?
Do you get enough sleep?
You always look so tired.
Or is it because your mother has a job?
In any case, you can't afford
to miss any more classes.
Good morning.
I used to sit here every afternoon.
In a remote corner
that the waiter usually ignored.
I would pretend to be doing homework.
But I was really doing nothing.
I wanted to be alone in public.
Everything around me became
a numb, impenetrable mass.
My life was a constant flight
from eyes and words.
I was made of parchment,
crumpled, transparent,
passive,
easily blown away.
Excuse me.
Nothing.
Nothing at all.
Everything's fine.
Pull yourself together...
Don't give up.
Don't collapse.
Don't be so sensitive.
Don't be so hypersensitive.
Be healthy. Be normal.
Be fine. Be fine again.
Be a normal girl.
Be a normal young girl.
Be a happy, normal young girl.
A laughing, happy, normal...
- Hey, Miss!
Are you asleep?
What are you looking for?
Hello!
A pound of...
A pound of...the white, sweet stuff.
Can she mean sugar?
Yes, sugar.
Sugar!
There you are!
Are you from abroad?
Germany pretty!
Goodbye.
Smash,
smash,
smash...
puncture,
expire,
puncture.
Shatter. Smash.
Shatter.
Smash the chill.
Smash the chill.
Smash the chill.
Shatter.
Smash the chill.
Shatter.
Smash the chill. Shatter.
Smash the chill.
Shatter the armor.
Shatter the armor.
Shatter the armor.
Shatter the armor.
Shatter the armor.
Smash the chill of shame.
Smash the chill of shame.
Smash the chill of shame.
Smash the chill of shame.
Shatter the walls of fear.
Smash the walls of fear.
Smash the chill of fear.
Shatter the walls of fear.
Shatter the chill of fear.
Shattering in pain.
Dissolving in pain.
What are you doing here?
It's too loud at home.
I have three little brothers
and sisters.
Our apartment is too small.
I want to do my homework here.
At least keep the door closed.
No one's allowed to be in school
in the afternoon. It's forbidden.
I could no longer cope
with this weight on my shoulders.
There was nowhere I felt at home.
I drifted through the days
like a cork on the sea.
I had given up being all right.
I felt superfluous.
I didn't even try to prove
the opposite to myself
and I didn't know
how much longer I'd be able
to convince everyone else
that I was only tired and stressed
because my mother had to work
and that I had an ulcer.
Sometimes I was heavy as a stone
that had to carry itself.
Sometimes my head lay over the world
light as a bubble,
with all sounds coming from far away,
friendly and indistinct.
But there was always a machine
raging unattended in my head
without a switch
that would turn it off.
Hello?
Hello, Ursel.
Is that you?
Ursula, say something!
Why don't you say something?
Stop fooling around.
Yeah?
Were you lying in bed again?
Get up now, you hear me?
You can't throw the whole day away.
You have to produce some energy, you know?
- Yes.
Put on some proper clothes.
Yeah.
And eat at the table with us tonight.
We're going to get stricter
around here, understand?
Yeah.
"You should be able to burn like a candle."
"You should be able to burn like a candle..."
"At both ends simultaneously."
SHORT STORY
SHORT STORY
Burn. Burn up.
Burn. Burn up.
Joy.
Burn. Burn.
Burn the void in the fire.
Burn the void in the fire...
Burn up the chill in the fire.
Burn up the chill in the fire.
Burn up the chill in the fire...
Burn in the fire of joy.
Burn in the fire of joy.
Burn in the fire of laughter...
Burn up in burning laughter.
Burn up in burning laughter...
They still didn't say a word.
In the fire of joy, in the fire of joy...
How could you have an inner life
and an outer life at the same time?
How did that happen?
A cigarette fell on my skirt.
Were you afraid?
No.
Last year my uniform caught on fire.
I was very scared.
But there's no war anywhere.
Yes, there is. In Algeria.
Didn't you know that?
That's not a war.
What would you call it?
The stupid, immature Algerians
are driving the French,
who've done everything for them,
out of the country.
Would you call it a war?
There. Machine gun.
The newspapers call it
unrest or an uprising.
War is when...
That's the new form of war.
Soon there'll be war
all over Africa and Asia.
- Hey, there's no swimming here!
Come.
Come, let's paddle on the lake.
We can't.
I'm sure the boat belongs to someone.
I need to go home anyway.
My mother's waiting.
How old are you,
18...20?
I'm 18.
Where I come from,
18-year-old women already have kids.
They definitely don't go back
to their mother.
I like math best.
Nothing moves,
it's all very quiet.
There's always a solution.
And only one.
You know right away
if you did it right.
Sometimes I imagine
how nice it would be
to be a square or a circle.
To be completely self-contained.
Nothing could happen to me.
Or maybe a rock on the road.
I'd see everything.
All the people who walked by.
But no one could hurt me,
not even if they stepped on me.
And beggars couldn't hurt you.
If a beggar's sitting on the street,
I always make a detour to avoid crying.
I want everybody to always be happy.
Do you understand that?
I understand that you're very unhappy.
No.
No.
No!
Are you afraid of black people?
Then what?
My Aunt Flo is visiting.
What does that mean?
And something might happen.
I could have a baby.
I want to go home.
No...
Stay still.
Nothing will happen!
Stay still, nothing will happen.
No...
- I'll be careful.
Nothing will happen.
Keep your legs tight.
Tighter.
Put your legs together.
Nothing will happen.
I want to go home.
But I want to stay here tonight.
If you want to write me,
here's an address.
We still have time.
We don't have to do that here.
I need to get to the train station.
My train's leaving at 7:12.
When are you coming back?
I'll be back in Paris tomorrow evening
and then...
I can't tell you yet.
My brother's there.
I'm going to Algeria.
I don't have an address there.
Write me anyway.
Maybe I'll be able to read it one day.
Are you sad?
Oh, no.
I'm lazy about writing anyway.
Lazy about writing?
What does that mean?
Lazy about writing.
Lazy about writing.
Lazy about writing!
Nothing happened at all.
You don't need to be worried at all.
You don't need to explain anything.
You can do as you please.
Come and go as...
This is Mrs. Scheuner.
We called last night to report
a missing person.
Everything's fine.
My daughter is back home.
Can't I at least explain where I was?
Then please leave a message.
I have to get to work.
Fine.
I'll bake a cake
with nuts, almonds, poppy seed,
raisins, currants,
chocolate sprinkles, candied orange peel,
butter, sugar and eggs.
No flour. No flour!
No flour please.
But why didn't you ever say anything?
Everything we do is for you.
You have everything.
Everything you need!
Don't you?
I...
I mean, what's wrong with you?
To get something done,
first you need to do away with something:
yourself.
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
JUTTA BRÜCKNER