Ich denke oft an Hawaii (1978) - full transcript
I OFTEN THINK OF HAWAII...
A FILM BY ELFI MIKESCH
My name is Carmen.
I'll be sixteen soon.
I lived in Kreuzberg for 14 years.
We had a nice, big courtyard there.
A chestnut tree.
There were lots of kids to play with.
And my friend.
We got on well
with the other people in the building.
And my school wasn't far away.
We moved two years ago
and I don't have any friends
at all out there.
One of the girls in my class lives there,
but I have nothing to do with her,
so I go to Kreuzberg
to see my friend there.
THIS STREET IS SITUATED
ON THE EDGE OF THE CITY,
RIGHT NEXT TO
A HIGH-RISE HOUSING ESTATE
TERRACED HOUSES RUN ALONG THE EDGE
OF THE HIGH-RISE HOUSING ESTATE
CARMEN LIVES ON THIS STREET
WITH HER MOTHER
AND HER BROTHER TITO
MONDAY
THE MOTHER LEAVES FOR WORK
AT 5 A.M. EVERY DAY
SHE WORKS AS A CLEANER
If you ever feel really lonely.
And if you want to cry.
When you feel the sadness of someone
who isn't loved anymore.
When the nights grow longer,
when there is no awakening anymore,
go to the seashore, my girl.
She doesn't go there anymore.
She will never go there again.
The first kiss you ever gave
you will never forget.
Don't worry, my girl.
It's the same for all of us.
If you're crying...
because he forgot you.
Let go of your pain, my child.
Now you don't feel so alone.
Come and sing with me.
Because this will be your song.
TUESDAY
CARMEN IS DOING HER SCHOOLWORK
BECAUSE SHE GOES TO GRAMMAR SCHOOL
My room is about ten square metres.
It has two cupboards.
A sofa,
two chairs, a table, a daybed.
A bedding box.
A clock.
A tape recorder,
two shelves.
A rug, cuddly toys, pictures, cushions.
Blankets.
And what I would like to have
two pieces of furniture...
in blue,
a table, a glass-topped table,
a small cupboard,
and...
lots of shelves
where I could put my cuddly toys:
cats, a Syrian hamster,
tigers, an owl
rabbits.
A postcard to Strasburg,
Chinese postcards.
And pictures with landscapes on them.
From South America, India,
and China.
A small standard lamp.
A large, blue, soft rug.
Wallpaper with overlapping colours.
At the moment,
I don't like the cupboards,
the wallpaper and the table.
It doesn't fit in the room.
It needs to be bigger.
I don't like the curtains.
The room is too small
for all the things in it.
I hardly have any room to move.
And I don't like the bushes
in front of my windows.
They bother me.
My room only gets a few hours of sun
when I'm not even there.
There is always a dream which stays awake
A SCHOOL POEM
BY PAUL ELUARD
And a smile
At the end of grief an open window
There is always a dream which stays awake
Desire to fill
Hunger to satisfy
An open hand
Carmen!
Carmen!
Attentive eyes
Carmen!
A life, the life to share
The thing is that I...
always have this wish
that I can't fulfil.
But I never give up hope.
I try to forget the wish
by thinking of something else,
but...
it always returns,
the hope that something will happen
that will make it possible after all.
And I really like that,
but I can't explain it.
It tells me everything that I...
need to know about it
and I know what is meant.
I can't put it any other way,
because I don't know how, but...
I have a certain feeling
that I can't explain.
Fluorescent lights,
hallways 50 metres long.
It's the pain.
Women hate each other.
-Illnesses.
Where can I go?
Not to hear, not to see.
Not to hear, not to see.
How can I put it? How can I put it?
Where can I go? How can I put it?
-Hallways 50 metres long.
Hallways 50 metres long.
It's the pain. Illnesses.
-Hallways 50 metres long.
Where can I go?
How can I put it?
Where can I go?
Not to hear, not to see.
How can I put it? How can I put it?
How can I put it?
How can I put it? How can I put it?
I think my mother's work is very dull.
Because she always does the same:
wiping, sweeping and vacuuming.
That's all her work involves.
The way I see it, some jobs...
are completely pointless.
I understand
that she has to do it, though.
Obviously you can't eat off dirty plates.
Because otherwise...
you'd end up eating bacteria.
It's not very nice either,
eating off dirty plates.
You need to have clean dishes.
If we had a dishwasher...
we could do more important things
than washing up.
I'd like to learn something, but...
I don't really know
exactly what I want to do later.
I don't want to be lonely.
I...
I don't want...
to be lonely.
I don't want... to be lonely.
I don't...
want...
to be lonely.
I don't want to be lonely.
FRIDAY
If you ever feel really lonely...
and if you want to cry...
When you feel the sadness of someone...
who is no longer loved.
When the nights grow longer,
when there is no awakening anymore...
go to the seashore, my girl.
She doesn't go there anymore.
She will never go there again.
You, with golden hair,
with teeth like pearls,
with ruby lips,
tell me
if you love me
the way I love you.
You know
that I'm listening to you.
Enveloped by a breeze
which seems to say:
I...
love you very much.
I love you... very much.
I love you.
I...
love you...
very much.
As much as I did back then.
Always, until I die.
I'd like to have
one or two children one day.
Because I think it's nice.
I don't know why, but...
I think if I didn't have any,
I'd be...
all alone and I'd feel...
lonely and...
If I didn't have any friends either,
just a few acquaintances,
but if I didn't get on
so well with them either...
And if I just sat at home all day,
that wouldn't be nice either.
If you have a television,
all you do is watch TV.
If I was at home all day...
I'd be lonely.
I'd become more and more stupid
and knit all day.
Cook...
or maybe...
Maybe I'd eat all day
or sit on the balcony.
If I had one.
You could stand there
and look out all day.
And...
if you had
no contact with other people...
And if you had no children either.
And that...
If you had no pets or anything,
you'd feel even lonelier.
I think that children
liven up a home.
I think it's good if you have someone
to keep you busy at home.
People should have...
other living beings
to keep them occupied.
But...
why I want to have two children...
I don't actually know.
I want to see the sunset on Hawaii.
As I lie in the sand
under the palm trees,
listening to the sea.
Or... I'd like to sail out onto the sea.
And the sunset.
And then watch the stars in the sky.
Dreaming all the while,
and hoping...
that this night
will never end.
Later on,
I would sail back to the island.
And...
lie on the beach for hours.
And listen to the sea.
I would listen to the sound of the waves,
softly rolling onto the beach.
And the rustling of the leaves,
quietly blown to and fro by the wind.
And if the hour had grown quite late,
I would go to sleep.
And...
look forward to the next sunset.
To the sea and the beach.
And the palm trees.
The sunset would be
my favourite thing
in the world.
When the sun slowly sets,
creating a reddish glow in the sky.
A reddish glimmer appears on the water.
The sea then engulfs the sun
and then...
little by little,
night falls.
And the stars
begin to twinkle in the sky.
This...
must be a wonderful sight to behold.
But unfortunately for me,
this will always...
be nothing but a beautiful dream.
There was a profound silence,
and only every so often...
a woman's lament...
THE MOTHER WAS FED UP OF WORKING
IN THE BUTTON FACTORY.
SHE WANTED TO GO TO AMERICA.
INSTEAD, SHE FELL IN LOVE
WITH AN AMERICAN SOLDIER.
ROBERTO FROM PUERTO RICO.
ROBERTO ABANDONED HER
AND HIS TWO CHILDREN, CARMEN AND TITO.
He would have shown me the world.
He would have shown me the world.
He would have shown me the world.
Would he have shown me the world?
Roberto, Roberto.
We didn't have any plans.
Don't kill me, my heart.
I cannot live without your love.
Don't tell me
that I am going to lose you.
Don't kill me, my heart.
Even if I were never
to think of you again.
Even if I were never to belong to you.
The day I declared my love to you,
I gave you my love,
and I didn't know anything about you.
Don't kill me, my heart.
If you were thinking
of changing my destiny,
then cast your mind back a little.
If you then regret your past,
you look at me
and say goodbye,
I will bare my soul
to you and say
that you can stay.
Because I am leaving.
Don't kill me, my heart.
FRIDAY
He would have shown me the world.
Would he have shown me the world?
He would have shown me the world.
Roberto.
Roberto.
Roberto.
Tears emerge like a cross.
My hair is completely white.
I shall borrow my youth from my past
one more time.
I will teach you how to love
because you did not love.
Blood seeps from my lips.
I have already buried my defeat.
Today I am all alone,
because I know that my love
means nothing without you.
I think that my mother
is a lonely person.
Because she's on her own
when she gets home from work
and people don't...
come by very often.
I don't know why that is.
She used to say...
that she couldn't go away,
because of us.
But today...
I don't get it.
But I think she's also responsible
and her work is, too.
When I come home in the evening,
Mother's asleep already
or still watching TV.
But normally we go to bed
pretty soon after that.
I don't see my mother in the morning,
or not very often,
because when I get up
she's already gone.
And she gets home
at about 3 or 4 in the afternoon
and I'm not there then.
When we see each other
it's actually only on Saturdays
and Sundays, but...
then we don't talk
to each other much either
about problems and that.
Because we have
so little contact with each other.
I'm not very close to Tito either,
because he talks
about his girlfriend a lot.
And then I have to listen.
But we don't talk about
our problems.
Of course I have problems,
and so does he.
But...
we don't talk about them,
not to Mother either.
Because she isn't there
and you kind of...
If you don't see each other
for a long time, you grow apart.
I'm sure it also...
has something to do with me because...
I refuse to talk about things.
Because I know very well
that it's not possible.
And...
that she just doesn't understand me.
I don't want to talk about myself.
Because then she tells me
I'm not the only one with problems
and she has lots to deal with too.
But...
I do think...
that people should talk to children
about their problems.
Discuss them together.
But...
this isn't possible for me
because we hardly see each other and...
Otherwise, everything's fine
and I don't mind the way things are.
SUNDAY
FROM THE SCHOOL BOOK
A POEM BY JACQUES PRÉVERT
The mother does knitting
The son fights the war
She finds this quite natural
the mother
And the father
what does he do?
He does business
His wife does knitting
His son the war
He business
He finds this quite natural
the father
And the son and the son
He finds absolutely nothing
the son
His mother does knitting
his father business
he war
When he finishes the war
He'll go into business with his father
The war continues
the mother continues
she knits
The father continues
he does business
The son is killed
he continues no more
The father and the mother
go to the graveyard
They find this quite natural
the father and the mother
Life continues
life with knitting and business
Business war
knitting war
Business
business
business
business
business
Life with the graveyard
My hands were
in a terrible state for a while.
We had this...
cleaning product, which was too strong.
And whenever we used it,
our hands would chap really badly.
But some things were really dirty,
so we had to use it.
Didn't one of your colleagues have...
-Yes.
What did she have?
She had eczema,
it was more...
It affected her nerves.
What do you think
about your job in general?
I like it well enough.
I'm satisfied at the moment.
I can't complain.
But one time you came home
and told me that your back hurt.
It's all that scrubbing.
So why did you
stop working as a seamstress?
Do you like cleaning better?
I wouldn't go so far as to say better.
But back then...
And...
I had stomach problems back then.
What did you want to become?
-A hairdresser.
A hairdresser?
-Yes.
Couldn't you find an apprenticeship?
-No.
You could have had a go at home.
Had a go at home?
Then you have a go here as a nurse.
Whenever I'm really sick,
you're never around.
That's not true.
-Most of the time.
But not all the time.
While we're on the subject, miss,
you're getting home very late.
Are you really just out with Marina?
I could say that too.
You never give me a proper answer either.
It's exactly the same.
-Why?
I always give you an answer.
Always? As if.
Even if it was just yes or no.
But you always want this or that
and tell me you're not happy.
I never said that.
You're confusing me with my brother.
Then give me a proper answer
to my question.
What do you want to know then?
What do you mean?
-It's always the same.
You never give me an answer.
It's not the same.
-You do that instead.
And then I have to go.
Of course it's the same.
It is to me, anyway.
-Not to me.
I'd also like to know why
you don't do things the way I ask you to.
That's totally different.
-Is it? It's not different.
Of course it's different.
-No!
If I ask you a question,
I don't tell you to do this or that.
Now I'd like an answer:
why do you always get home so late?
You know all the things
that have been happening lately.
I told you I was going for a walk
with Marina for a few hours
when we went out at seven.
I'd like an answer now.
-So would I.
Forget it.
SUNDAY
The journey from San Francisco
or Los Angeles to Hawaii
is barely further
than from Frankfurt to Las Palmas.
Honolulu: vibrant and entertaining,
embodying the spirit of aloha.
Beach life among palm trees,
bronzed hula dancers,
exotic cocktails,
entertainment Las Vegas style.
Candle-light dinners,
cool drinks and hot beats.
Neon Fata morgana
shining in the desert.
You should love nature
and wish to experience it.
Andalucia Plaza, El Paradiso.
This day in the midst
of an utterly unique universe
will be an experience to remember.
THE MOTHER WOULD LIKE CARMEN
TO BE THE DANCER MARIKA RÖKK
OR CARMEN JONES
FROM THE FILM
Make sure to start every day
with a happy face.
Leave nothing to be desired.
Enchanted like a smile.
Her eyes had never been more beautiful.
False eyelashes.
Pamper yourself with some perfume.
In the morning and the evening.
After your bath.
A mysterious veil of scent
envelops you for hours.
And hours and hours.
And hours.
And hours.
And hours.
SUNDAY
What did you use to do
when you had a boyfriend?
We went dancing.
-I bet you did more than that.
We went to the club.
What kind of club?
A club where people dance.
So you think having a boyfriend
will somehow make you better?
Well, what was it like
when you were young?
You don't usually
find an excuse for it either.
Oh well.
You don't usually
find an excuse for it either.
Oh well.
You don't usually
find an excuse for it either.
Oh well.
You don't usually
find an excuse for it either.
Oh well.
I like reading romantic novels.
There's always a happy end, but...
I don't pay much attention
to what happens in between.
I only care about the end.
A happy end means overcoming difficulties
and being together.
A happy end means
being able to do everything
that I wish for.
I'd...
like to have a quiet life.
Without arguments.
And...
a great love.
A HAPPY END MEANS OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES
AND BEING TOGETHER
I OFTEN THINK OF HAWAII...
A FILM BY ELFI MIKESCH,
FEATURING CARMEN,
RUTH AND TITO ROSSOL
CAMERA AND DIRECTING
ELFI MIKESCH
COMMISSIONED BY ZDF
Rebekah Smith
BABELFISCH TRANSLATIONS
A FILM BY ELFI MIKESCH
My name is Carmen.
I'll be sixteen soon.
I lived in Kreuzberg for 14 years.
We had a nice, big courtyard there.
A chestnut tree.
There were lots of kids to play with.
And my friend.
We got on well
with the other people in the building.
And my school wasn't far away.
We moved two years ago
and I don't have any friends
at all out there.
One of the girls in my class lives there,
but I have nothing to do with her,
so I go to Kreuzberg
to see my friend there.
THIS STREET IS SITUATED
ON THE EDGE OF THE CITY,
RIGHT NEXT TO
A HIGH-RISE HOUSING ESTATE
TERRACED HOUSES RUN ALONG THE EDGE
OF THE HIGH-RISE HOUSING ESTATE
CARMEN LIVES ON THIS STREET
WITH HER MOTHER
AND HER BROTHER TITO
MONDAY
THE MOTHER LEAVES FOR WORK
AT 5 A.M. EVERY DAY
SHE WORKS AS A CLEANER
If you ever feel really lonely.
And if you want to cry.
When you feel the sadness of someone
who isn't loved anymore.
When the nights grow longer,
when there is no awakening anymore,
go to the seashore, my girl.
She doesn't go there anymore.
She will never go there again.
The first kiss you ever gave
you will never forget.
Don't worry, my girl.
It's the same for all of us.
If you're crying...
because he forgot you.
Let go of your pain, my child.
Now you don't feel so alone.
Come and sing with me.
Because this will be your song.
TUESDAY
CARMEN IS DOING HER SCHOOLWORK
BECAUSE SHE GOES TO GRAMMAR SCHOOL
My room is about ten square metres.
It has two cupboards.
A sofa,
two chairs, a table, a daybed.
A bedding box.
A clock.
A tape recorder,
two shelves.
A rug, cuddly toys, pictures, cushions.
Blankets.
And what I would like to have
two pieces of furniture...
in blue,
a table, a glass-topped table,
a small cupboard,
and...
lots of shelves
where I could put my cuddly toys:
cats, a Syrian hamster,
tigers, an owl
rabbits.
A postcard to Strasburg,
Chinese postcards.
And pictures with landscapes on them.
From South America, India,
and China.
A small standard lamp.
A large, blue, soft rug.
Wallpaper with overlapping colours.
At the moment,
I don't like the cupboards,
the wallpaper and the table.
It doesn't fit in the room.
It needs to be bigger.
I don't like the curtains.
The room is too small
for all the things in it.
I hardly have any room to move.
And I don't like the bushes
in front of my windows.
They bother me.
My room only gets a few hours of sun
when I'm not even there.
There is always a dream which stays awake
A SCHOOL POEM
BY PAUL ELUARD
And a smile
At the end of grief an open window
There is always a dream which stays awake
Desire to fill
Hunger to satisfy
An open hand
Carmen!
Carmen!
Attentive eyes
Carmen!
A life, the life to share
The thing is that I...
always have this wish
that I can't fulfil.
But I never give up hope.
I try to forget the wish
by thinking of something else,
but...
it always returns,
the hope that something will happen
that will make it possible after all.
And I really like that,
but I can't explain it.
It tells me everything that I...
need to know about it
and I know what is meant.
I can't put it any other way,
because I don't know how, but...
I have a certain feeling
that I can't explain.
Fluorescent lights,
hallways 50 metres long.
It's the pain.
Women hate each other.
-Illnesses.
Where can I go?
Not to hear, not to see.
Not to hear, not to see.
How can I put it? How can I put it?
Where can I go? How can I put it?
-Hallways 50 metres long.
Hallways 50 metres long.
It's the pain. Illnesses.
-Hallways 50 metres long.
Where can I go?
How can I put it?
Where can I go?
Not to hear, not to see.
How can I put it? How can I put it?
How can I put it?
How can I put it? How can I put it?
I think my mother's work is very dull.
Because she always does the same:
wiping, sweeping and vacuuming.
That's all her work involves.
The way I see it, some jobs...
are completely pointless.
I understand
that she has to do it, though.
Obviously you can't eat off dirty plates.
Because otherwise...
you'd end up eating bacteria.
It's not very nice either,
eating off dirty plates.
You need to have clean dishes.
If we had a dishwasher...
we could do more important things
than washing up.
I'd like to learn something, but...
I don't really know
exactly what I want to do later.
I don't want to be lonely.
I...
I don't want...
to be lonely.
I don't want... to be lonely.
I don't...
want...
to be lonely.
I don't want to be lonely.
FRIDAY
If you ever feel really lonely...
and if you want to cry...
When you feel the sadness of someone...
who is no longer loved.
When the nights grow longer,
when there is no awakening anymore...
go to the seashore, my girl.
She doesn't go there anymore.
She will never go there again.
You, with golden hair,
with teeth like pearls,
with ruby lips,
tell me
if you love me
the way I love you.
You know
that I'm listening to you.
Enveloped by a breeze
which seems to say:
I...
love you very much.
I love you... very much.
I love you.
I...
love you...
very much.
As much as I did back then.
Always, until I die.
I'd like to have
one or two children one day.
Because I think it's nice.
I don't know why, but...
I think if I didn't have any,
I'd be...
all alone and I'd feel...
lonely and...
If I didn't have any friends either,
just a few acquaintances,
but if I didn't get on
so well with them either...
And if I just sat at home all day,
that wouldn't be nice either.
If you have a television,
all you do is watch TV.
If I was at home all day...
I'd be lonely.
I'd become more and more stupid
and knit all day.
Cook...
or maybe...
Maybe I'd eat all day
or sit on the balcony.
If I had one.
You could stand there
and look out all day.
And...
if you had
no contact with other people...
And if you had no children either.
And that...
If you had no pets or anything,
you'd feel even lonelier.
I think that children
liven up a home.
I think it's good if you have someone
to keep you busy at home.
People should have...
other living beings
to keep them occupied.
But...
why I want to have two children...
I don't actually know.
I want to see the sunset on Hawaii.
As I lie in the sand
under the palm trees,
listening to the sea.
Or... I'd like to sail out onto the sea.
And the sunset.
And then watch the stars in the sky.
Dreaming all the while,
and hoping...
that this night
will never end.
Later on,
I would sail back to the island.
And...
lie on the beach for hours.
And listen to the sea.
I would listen to the sound of the waves,
softly rolling onto the beach.
And the rustling of the leaves,
quietly blown to and fro by the wind.
And if the hour had grown quite late,
I would go to sleep.
And...
look forward to the next sunset.
To the sea and the beach.
And the palm trees.
The sunset would be
my favourite thing
in the world.
When the sun slowly sets,
creating a reddish glow in the sky.
A reddish glimmer appears on the water.
The sea then engulfs the sun
and then...
little by little,
night falls.
And the stars
begin to twinkle in the sky.
This...
must be a wonderful sight to behold.
But unfortunately for me,
this will always...
be nothing but a beautiful dream.
There was a profound silence,
and only every so often...
a woman's lament...
THE MOTHER WAS FED UP OF WORKING
IN THE BUTTON FACTORY.
SHE WANTED TO GO TO AMERICA.
INSTEAD, SHE FELL IN LOVE
WITH AN AMERICAN SOLDIER.
ROBERTO FROM PUERTO RICO.
ROBERTO ABANDONED HER
AND HIS TWO CHILDREN, CARMEN AND TITO.
He would have shown me the world.
He would have shown me the world.
He would have shown me the world.
Would he have shown me the world?
Roberto, Roberto.
We didn't have any plans.
Don't kill me, my heart.
I cannot live without your love.
Don't tell me
that I am going to lose you.
Don't kill me, my heart.
Even if I were never
to think of you again.
Even if I were never to belong to you.
The day I declared my love to you,
I gave you my love,
and I didn't know anything about you.
Don't kill me, my heart.
If you were thinking
of changing my destiny,
then cast your mind back a little.
If you then regret your past,
you look at me
and say goodbye,
I will bare my soul
to you and say
that you can stay.
Because I am leaving.
Don't kill me, my heart.
FRIDAY
He would have shown me the world.
Would he have shown me the world?
He would have shown me the world.
Roberto.
Roberto.
Roberto.
Tears emerge like a cross.
My hair is completely white.
I shall borrow my youth from my past
one more time.
I will teach you how to love
because you did not love.
Blood seeps from my lips.
I have already buried my defeat.
Today I am all alone,
because I know that my love
means nothing without you.
I think that my mother
is a lonely person.
Because she's on her own
when she gets home from work
and people don't...
come by very often.
I don't know why that is.
She used to say...
that she couldn't go away,
because of us.
But today...
I don't get it.
But I think she's also responsible
and her work is, too.
When I come home in the evening,
Mother's asleep already
or still watching TV.
But normally we go to bed
pretty soon after that.
I don't see my mother in the morning,
or not very often,
because when I get up
she's already gone.
And she gets home
at about 3 or 4 in the afternoon
and I'm not there then.
When we see each other
it's actually only on Saturdays
and Sundays, but...
then we don't talk
to each other much either
about problems and that.
Because we have
so little contact with each other.
I'm not very close to Tito either,
because he talks
about his girlfriend a lot.
And then I have to listen.
But we don't talk about
our problems.
Of course I have problems,
and so does he.
But...
we don't talk about them,
not to Mother either.
Because she isn't there
and you kind of...
If you don't see each other
for a long time, you grow apart.
I'm sure it also...
has something to do with me because...
I refuse to talk about things.
Because I know very well
that it's not possible.
And...
that she just doesn't understand me.
I don't want to talk about myself.
Because then she tells me
I'm not the only one with problems
and she has lots to deal with too.
But...
I do think...
that people should talk to children
about their problems.
Discuss them together.
But...
this isn't possible for me
because we hardly see each other and...
Otherwise, everything's fine
and I don't mind the way things are.
SUNDAY
FROM THE SCHOOL BOOK
A POEM BY JACQUES PRÉVERT
The mother does knitting
The son fights the war
She finds this quite natural
the mother
And the father
what does he do?
He does business
His wife does knitting
His son the war
He business
He finds this quite natural
the father
And the son and the son
He finds absolutely nothing
the son
His mother does knitting
his father business
he war
When he finishes the war
He'll go into business with his father
The war continues
the mother continues
she knits
The father continues
he does business
The son is killed
he continues no more
The father and the mother
go to the graveyard
They find this quite natural
the father and the mother
Life continues
life with knitting and business
Business war
knitting war
Business
business
business
business
business
Life with the graveyard
My hands were
in a terrible state for a while.
We had this...
cleaning product, which was too strong.
And whenever we used it,
our hands would chap really badly.
But some things were really dirty,
so we had to use it.
Didn't one of your colleagues have...
-Yes.
What did she have?
She had eczema,
it was more...
It affected her nerves.
What do you think
about your job in general?
I like it well enough.
I'm satisfied at the moment.
I can't complain.
But one time you came home
and told me that your back hurt.
It's all that scrubbing.
So why did you
stop working as a seamstress?
Do you like cleaning better?
I wouldn't go so far as to say better.
But back then...
And...
I had stomach problems back then.
What did you want to become?
-A hairdresser.
A hairdresser?
-Yes.
Couldn't you find an apprenticeship?
-No.
You could have had a go at home.
Had a go at home?
Then you have a go here as a nurse.
Whenever I'm really sick,
you're never around.
That's not true.
-Most of the time.
But not all the time.
While we're on the subject, miss,
you're getting home very late.
Are you really just out with Marina?
I could say that too.
You never give me a proper answer either.
It's exactly the same.
-Why?
I always give you an answer.
Always? As if.
Even if it was just yes or no.
But you always want this or that
and tell me you're not happy.
I never said that.
You're confusing me with my brother.
Then give me a proper answer
to my question.
What do you want to know then?
What do you mean?
-It's always the same.
You never give me an answer.
It's not the same.
-You do that instead.
And then I have to go.
Of course it's the same.
It is to me, anyway.
-Not to me.
I'd also like to know why
you don't do things the way I ask you to.
That's totally different.
-Is it? It's not different.
Of course it's different.
-No!
If I ask you a question,
I don't tell you to do this or that.
Now I'd like an answer:
why do you always get home so late?
You know all the things
that have been happening lately.
I told you I was going for a walk
with Marina for a few hours
when we went out at seven.
I'd like an answer now.
-So would I.
Forget it.
SUNDAY
The journey from San Francisco
or Los Angeles to Hawaii
is barely further
than from Frankfurt to Las Palmas.
Honolulu: vibrant and entertaining,
embodying the spirit of aloha.
Beach life among palm trees,
bronzed hula dancers,
exotic cocktails,
entertainment Las Vegas style.
Candle-light dinners,
cool drinks and hot beats.
Neon Fata morgana
shining in the desert.
You should love nature
and wish to experience it.
Andalucia Plaza, El Paradiso.
This day in the midst
of an utterly unique universe
will be an experience to remember.
THE MOTHER WOULD LIKE CARMEN
TO BE THE DANCER MARIKA RÖKK
OR CARMEN JONES
FROM THE FILM
Make sure to start every day
with a happy face.
Leave nothing to be desired.
Enchanted like a smile.
Her eyes had never been more beautiful.
False eyelashes.
Pamper yourself with some perfume.
In the morning and the evening.
After your bath.
A mysterious veil of scent
envelops you for hours.
And hours and hours.
And hours.
And hours.
And hours.
SUNDAY
What did you use to do
when you had a boyfriend?
We went dancing.
-I bet you did more than that.
We went to the club.
What kind of club?
A club where people dance.
So you think having a boyfriend
will somehow make you better?
Well, what was it like
when you were young?
You don't usually
find an excuse for it either.
Oh well.
You don't usually
find an excuse for it either.
Oh well.
You don't usually
find an excuse for it either.
Oh well.
You don't usually
find an excuse for it either.
Oh well.
I like reading romantic novels.
There's always a happy end, but...
I don't pay much attention
to what happens in between.
I only care about the end.
A happy end means overcoming difficulties
and being together.
A happy end means
being able to do everything
that I wish for.
I'd...
like to have a quiet life.
Without arguments.
And...
a great love.
A HAPPY END MEANS OVERCOMING DIFFICULTIES
AND BEING TOGETHER
I OFTEN THINK OF HAWAII...
A FILM BY ELFI MIKESCH,
FEATURING CARMEN,
RUTH AND TITO ROSSOL
CAMERA AND DIRECTING
ELFI MIKESCH
COMMISSIONED BY ZDF
Rebekah Smith
BABELFISCH TRANSLATIONS