Storm Weather (1960) - full transcript
An elderly gentleman is trying to find peace and quiet in a fashionable residential house. He pass the time by chatting a local confectioner and by playing chess with his brother. The tranquility is disturbed by a singer moving in the apartment above.
Are you nearly through?
I'll be with you soon.
Good evening, Mr. Starck.
Good evening, sir.
It continues to be warm.
Yes, it's so hot, and we've been
making preserves all day long.
Is that so - is it a good fruit year?
Fairly good...we had a cold spring
but the summer's been intolerably hot...
We city folk
have been made to feel it.
I came from the country yesterday...
when the evenings get dark,
you long to get inside.
Neither I nor my wife
have been outside the city limits.
The business is at a standstill,
but you must stay at your post.
... get ready for winter.
First there's the strawberries,
and then the cherries,
the raspberries and the gooseberries,
the melons
and the whole autumn harvest.
Tell me something, Mr. Starck,
are they going to sell this house?
No, not that I've heard!
Are there many people
living here?
I think there are ten families counting those
that live on the court side...
but none of them know each other...
there's very little gossip
in this house...
...it seems rather as if
they want to hide themselves.
And it's called
the silent house!
Yes, they don't do
much talking here.
But many a drama
has been played out here.
Tell me, Mr. Starck, who lives here,
one flight up, over my brother?
Up there where
the red curtains are shining...
that's where the tenant died
last summer
when it stood empty
for a month...
and about a week ago
a couple moved in...
but I haven't seen them...
I don't think they go out even.
What makes you ask, consul?
Oh - I don't know!...
The four red curtains
look as if bloody dramas
were rehearsed behind them...
so I imagine!
There's a phœnix-palm there
like an iron whip
throwing its shadow on the shade.
If you could only see
some human figures.
I've seen plenty of them,
but only late at night!
Were they women - or men?
There were both kinds.
But now I must go down
to my pots.
I'll be ready soon...
Louise is sewing a button on my glove.
Do you intend to
go down town then?
We might walk down a bit.
Whom were you talking with?
It was only the confectioner.
Oh, yes, he's a pleasant man...
my only companion here all summer,
for that matter.
Thanks, my child...you can leave
the windows open...no mozzies.
I'm coming now.
- Good evening Louise.
- Good evening, Consul.
Have you really sat here at home
every evening, never been out?
These light summer evenings
make me nervous...
It's beautiful in the country,
of course,
...but in the city it has the effect
of being unnatural, almost terrible.
When they light the first street lamp
I feel tranquil once more
and able to go
for my evening walk
Then I get tired,
and sleep better.
But tell me, why do you stay
here in the city
when you could be
in the country?
I don't know!
I've become fixed.
I'm bound to these rooms
by memories.
I feel peace and protection
only in there.
In there! It's interesting to see
your home from outside
I fancy I see someone else
wandering about in there
Think of it - I've wandered in there
for ten years.
Is it ten years now?
Yes, time flies, when it's really past,
but while it's passing it seems long.
The house was new at that time...
and I saw them lay the parquet floor
in the drawing-room...
saw them paint the panels and doors
and she chose the wall-papers
that are still on.
Yes, that's the way it is!
The confectioner and I
are the oldest tenants in the house
and he too has had
his vicissitudes.
He's the sort of human being
who never has any luck.
Always in some tangle.
It's as if I lived his life
and carried his burden
with mine.
Does he drink then?
No! Nor is he ever negligent,
but he has no drive.
Yes, he and I know
the chronicles of the house.
They've driven in here
with wedding chariots...
and out with hearses.
and that letter-box
on the corner
has received the secrets.
Didn't you have a death here
around midsummer?
Yes, we had a typhoid case,
it was a bank clerk.
And then the rooms
were empty for a month.
The coffin came out first,
then the widow...
and the children
and the furniture last.
Was that one flight up?
Yes, up there,
where there's a light...
the new tenants,
whom I don't know yet.
Haven't you even
seen them?
I never ask about the tenants
Whatever offers itself voluntarily
I accept...
without hassle
and without involvement.
for I'm careful about
the peace of old age.
Yes, old age!
I think it's beautiful to be old...
for then you haven't very much
of the record left to make.
I'm balancing my book with life
and fellow beings
and have already begun
to pack for the journey.
Solitude is not
what it might be,
but when no one has
any claim on you,
then freedom is won.
The freedom to come and go,
to think and act
to eat and sleep
according to your choice.
They're stirring up there!
Yes, it's so mysterious,
but it's worse at night.
Sometimes they have music,
but very bad.
Sometimes I imagine
that they play cards
and later, after midnight,
cabs come.
I never complain about
the tenants
for then they revenge
themselves.
It's best not to know
anything!
What a tremendous post
that fellow had!
It seemed to be
a lot of circulars!
But who was he?
Musician? It couldn't be anyone
but the new tenant one flight up.
Musician, manager, a bit operatic,
bordering on vaudeville, gambler...
Adonis, a little of each
With that white skin
he ought to have black hair
but it was brown...
it was dyed or else a wig
A smoking jacket at home
suggests lack of wardrobe
and the movements of his hands
as he dropped the letters
suggested shuffling,
cut and deal.
Always waltzes,
perhaps they have a dancing school.
but almost always it's the same waltz...
what's it called?
Upon my word, if it isn't... "La Pluie d'Or"...
I know that by heart.
Yes, that one and "Alcazar".
Are you still satisfied
with Louise?
Very much so.
Isn't she going to marry?
Not to my knowledge.
No sweetheart around?
Why do you ask that?
I? NO thanks!
I was too old the last time I married,
considering we had a child immediately...
But I am now,
and I wish to grow older in peace...
Do you think I'd want
a mistress in my house
to make away with my life,
my honour, and my goods?
Your life and goods
remained to you.
Was there any doubt
about the honour?
Don't you know
that there was?
What are you trying
to say?
She murdered your honour
when she left.
So I've gone about murdered
and didn't know it?
You didn't know?
NO, but now you'll know
the real circumstances...
When, at the age of fifty,
I married a comparatively young girl...
whose affection I had won,
and who gladly gave me her hand
I promised her that when my age
became heavy for her youth
I should go my way,
restoring her freedom.
When in good time
the child came
and neither cared for
anything more of that sort
and after our daughter began
to grow away from me,
and I felt I was unnecessary,
I left,
that is to say...
I took a boat,
as we were staying on an island
at the time...
I'd kept my promise,
and saved my honour...
hadn't I?
Yes, but she considered
her honour attacked,
because she wanted to be
the one to leave,
and that's why
she murdered you,
with silent accusations,
that you never knew about.
Did she accuse herself?
No, she had no reason
to do so.
Then there's no danger.
Do you know anything
about hers or the child's fate?
I don't want to know anything!
After I'd gone through
all the agonies of the loss,
I considered the matter ended,
and as only the beautiful memories
remained in our apartment, I remained.
Think, that I got out of all that
with my life!
And now it's all over!
Shall we take a turn
on the Avenue?
Let's do so, and we'll see them
lighting the first street lamp.
Louise...
Be so good
as to give me my stick!
The light summer stick,
just to hold in my hand.
Moonlight to-night!
The August moon?
I believe it's really a full moon.
Here, sir!
We'll be gone for a while,
can't say how long.
Good evening, Miss...
It's rather warm...
Have your gentlemen gone?
Yes, they've gone down the Avenue
The first evening that the master
has been out this summer.
We old ones love dusk.
It hides so many faults in ourselves
and in others too.
Do you know, Miss, that my old woman
is going blind,
but she doesn't want
an operation!
There's nothing worth looking at
she says...
and sometimes she wishes
she were deaf too.
I sometimes feel that way.
You lead a quiet
and beautiful life in there
in prosperity and without worry.
I never hear a loud voice
nor the slamming of a door...
perhaps a little too quiet
for a young lady like you?
Not at all.
You never have callers either?
No, only the consul comes...
and I've never seen such brotherly love.
Where are you going, my girl?
I'm just going for a little walk!
That's alright, but come back soon.
Do you think your master
still mourns his loved ones?
He doesn't mourn,
nor does he miss them,
as he doesn't long for
their return
but he lives with them
in memories...
just the beautiful ones.
But the daughter's fate
must worry him sometimes...
Yes, he must fear
the mother's marrying again...
raising the question of
who the step-father would be.
I've been told that the wife
refused all support at first
but after five years had passed
she sent a lawyer
with a long bill
amounting to thousands.
I don't know about that.
I believe she's more beautiful
in his memory than...
Excuse me...
does Mr. Fischer live here?
Mr. Fischer?
Not that I know of.
Perhaps it's Fischer
who lives one flight up.
Ring one flight up
around the corner.
One flight up.
Thanks.
Now it'll be
a sleepless night again...
when they carry up bottles.
What sort of people are they?
Why are they never seen?
They must go out the back way...
I've never seen them.
But I hear them!
Me too.
Corks popping, doors slamming
and other sorts
of banging perhaps.
That was lightning!
One, two, three...
They're just heat flashes...
There's no thunder.
Starck dear, come down
and help me melt the sugar.
I'm coming, old girl.
See...we're making jam
I'm coming! I'm coming!
Hasn't my brother returned?
No, sir.
He went in to telephone
so I came ahead.
Well, he'll be here soon
of course.
What's this?
What does it say?
"Boston Club after midnight -
at Fischers"
Who's Fischers,
do you know, Louise?
A man was just here
with wine...
looking for someone called Fischer
one flight up.
One flight up, Fischers!
Red curtains
lit up like a cigar sign at night...
I believe you've had bad company
come into the house.
What's a Boston Club?
It might be something
quite innocent
But in this case
I'm not so sure.
But how did the post card...?
It was he who dropped it
a while ago...
...putting them in the box.
Fischer?
I've heard that name before
in connection with something
I've forgotten.
What in heaven's name
are they doing up there?
Killing each other?
There's another scream...
in the stairway.
Is it really you,
my one-time sister-in-law?
How did you get here
in this house,
and why begrudge
my brother his peace?
I believed he'd moved...
it's not my fault.
Don't be afraid of me,
you mustn't be afraid of me, Gerda
Can I help you?
What's going on up there?
He struck me!
Is your little girl with you?
Yes.
She has a step-father then?
Yes!
Put up your hair
and calm yourself,
and I'll try
to straighten this out...
but spare my brother.
He hates me, of course.
No, he doesn't hate you.
Where's he now?
Out walking on the avenue,
he'll soon be here
with his paper.
But you must go back up
to your...
I can't go back.
I can't go back to that man.
Who and what is he?
He's been...a singer.
"Has been", and is now...?
A swindler!
Yes.
Keeps gambling rooms.
Yes.
And the child? ...a decoy!
Don't say that!
You're too harsh!
Yes, we must handle unclean things
delicately...so delicately!
But a righteous matter
can be dirtied.
Why did you defile his honour
and why did you deceive me
into being your accomplice?
He deserted me...
and that was an insult.
Not for you! Your youth saved you
from humiliation.
He should've allowed ME
to leave HIM.
Why did you want him
to have the dishonour?
Why would it have to be me?
I can't follow your thoughts,
which only turn on hate...
But if we let the matter
of restoring his honour go
and think about
saving his child.
What shall we do then?
She is my child.
The law gave her to me,
and my husband is her father.
Quiet...he's coming.
Yes...it's him!
Come here
and see your home!
How he has kept everything
just as you arranged it.
Don't be afraid...
he can't see us here in the dark
The light blinds him
you see.
Just think how
he's lied to me.
In what respect?
He hasn't aged any!
He just grew tired of me.
See the collar he wears
and the very latest scarf!
I'm sure he has a sweetheart!
Her portrait's on the mantel...
between the candelabras.
That's me...and the child!
Does he still love me?
The memory of you.
How strange!
He's looking at us.
Stand still!
He's looking right in my eyes.
Stand still!
He can't see you!
He looks like
a dead man.
Wasn't he murdered?
Don't say that!
Karl Fredrik!
Are you alone?
I thought...
Are you really alone?
As you can see!
It's so close, and the flowers
give me headache.
Now I'll just finish my paper.
Now, about you...
do you want me to go up with you?
Perhaps. But there'll be
a lot of trouble.
But the child
must be saved...
And I am a lawyer.
Very well, for the child's sake.
Follow me.
Karl Fredrik!...
Come and play chess!
Where did my brother go?
He was outside just now.
He can't be far away.
What a dreadful racket
they're making up there.
It's as if they were tramping
on my head.
Now they are pulling out
bureau drawers
as if they intended to move,
run away perhaps.
If you could only play chess Louise!
I can...a little...
Well...if you only know how
to move the pieces...it's something.
Sit down, my child!
They are making such a clatter
up there
the chandelier shakes,
and below the confectioner
is stoking his fire.
I think I'll move out soon.
I've thought for a long time
you ought to move, sir, anyway.
"Anyway?"
It isn't good to sit too long
among old memories.
Why not?
When it's all over,
all memories are beautiful.
But you might live
twenty years yet, sir...
and that'll be too long
to live in memories
that fade nevertheless
and some day perhaps
may change colour.
How wise you are,
little child!
Begin now...
Move a pawn.
But not the queen's...
then you'll weaken yourself
in two moves.
Then I'll begin with the knight
Just as dangerous, my dear.
But I think I'll begin
with the knight anyway
Good! Then I'll move
my jumping-pawn.
It's Mr. Starck with the biscuits.
He walks as quietly
as a little mouse.
It seems like only yesterday
Starck was first up here.
Well, it's ten years ago.
When you came
with the wedding cake.
Does it look the same?
Just the same...
the palms have grown of course.
Otherwise quite the same.
And will be so until you come
with the funeral cake.
After a certain age
nothing changes...
everything comes to a standstill
but life slides along
like a sled down a slope.
Yes, that's the way it is!
And in that way
it's quiet.
No love, no friends...
just a bit of company
in the solitude.
and then human beings
become just people...
without the proprietary rights
to your feelings
and sympathies.
And then you loosen
like an old tooth
without pain
and without being missed.
There's Louise, for example...
a young and beautiful girl
through whose presence
I experience satisfaction
like that of a work of art
you don't expect to own.
Nothing disturbs
our relationship!
My brother and I
associate with each other
like two elderly gentlemen
who never become too familiar
or force each other's
confidences.
Through keeping a neutrality
with people
you get a certain distance
and at a distance we always make
a better impression!
In a word, I'm satisfied
with old age
and its peace and quiet.
Louise!
The washing has just come back
and I must check it.
Well, Mr. Starck,
won't you sit down and talk
or perhaps you can play chess?
I can't stay away
from my pots,
and at eleven
I must fire the bake-oven.
Thanks, however,
for your hospitality.
If you should see
my brother,
ask him to come in
and keep me company.
I'll be sure to do that.
The peace and quiet of old age!
Can't you postpone
whatever you're doing
about the washing?
That's impossible...
the washwoman's in a hurry
and her husband and children
are waiting for her.
Is that you, Karl Fredrik?
No, it's the postman.
Excuse my coming in
but the doors are open.
Is there a letter for me?
Only a post-card.
Mr. Fischer again...Boston Club.
That's him up above!
With the white hands
and the smoking jacket!
And to me!
It's scandalous !
I have to move!
Is that you, Karl Fredrik?
It's the ice-man!
It's fine to get ice
in this heat!
But be careful of the bottles
in the ice-box.
And put the piece on edge,
so I can hear the water drops
fall as it melts.
It's my water clock,
that measures out the time.
the long time.
Look here,
where do you get that ice?
Has he gone?
They all go home...
to be able to hear their own voices
and have company.
Is that you, Karl Fredrik?
Who's playing?
My impromptu!
Is it you, Karl Fredrik?
It's me.
Where have you been
so long?
I had a bit of business
to straighten out.
Have you been alone?
Yes!
Come and play chess
with me now.
I'd rather talk!
And you too may need
to hear your voice.
Quite true, but it's so easy for us
to get into the past.
Then we forget the present.
The present doesn't exist...
what is now passing
is empty nothingness.
The future or the past...
The future preferably,
for hope exists there.
Hope, for what?
A change!
Good ! You mean to say
that you have had enough
of the peace of old age?
Perhaps!
Quite so!
And if you were able
to choose
between solitude
and the past...
No ghosts however!
What about
your memories then?
They don't disturb...
they are my poems
about certain realities.
but if the dead
should appear again,
that would be ghosts.
However - in your memory
which of the two
gives the most beautiful mirage...
the woman or the child?
Both!
I cannot separate them...
and that's why I never sought
to keep the child.
But was that right?
Didn't you think of the possibility
of a step-father?
I didn't think
so far ahead then,
but since...I have...reflected...
about...that...matter.
A step-father, who misused...
perhaps degraded your child!
Hush!
What did you hear?
I thought I heard
" the little feet,"
the little tripping feet
in the hall
when she came
to find me.
It was the child
that was the best.
To see this dauntless
little being
who feared nothing...
who divined nothing
of life's treachery...
who had no secrets at all.
I remember her first realization
of human evil.
She noticed a beautiful child
in the park...
and she ran with open arms
to kiss the stranger.
The beautiful child
returned the friendliness
by biting her cheek
and sticking out her tongue.
You should have seen
my little Anne-Charlotte then.
She stood petrified...
not by the pain...
but with terror
to see this abyss,
which is called the human heart,
open itself.
But why are we here
talking about this?
Is it on account of the heat
or the thunder, or what?
Loneliness brings heavy thoughts
and you ought to have company.
This summer in the city
seems to have broken you down.
It's only these last few weeks...
The illness...and the corpse
they had up there
affected me...as if it were me
going through it all.
The confectioner's troubles
have also become mine.
So much so
that I worry about his business,
his wife's eye trouble...
his future.
And lately...I dream every night
about my little Anne-Charlotte.
I see her in dangers...
strange, unthinkable, nameless.
And before I sleep,
when the ear is most sensitive,
I hear her little feet,
and sometimes I hear her voice.
Where is she then?
Yes, where !
Suppose you should meet her
in the street?
I imagine I'd lose my reason
or fall to the ground.
Five years at that age
make you unrecognizable!
Imagine not recognizing
your own child!
No, I wouldn't survive it!
No, I'd rather keep
my little four-year-old
on the home altar.
I don't want any other.
Is that you, Louise, arranging things in the linen-closet?
It smells so clean,
and it reminds me of - Yes...
the mother of the house
at the linen-closet
the good fairy, who takes care of things
the housekeeper with the flat-iron
who smooths the rough places
and takes out the wrinkles.
Yes, the wrinkles.
Now I think…I'll…go…in
and write a letter.
If you care to stay
I'll be right back.
Are you...
Oh God! That sound that I've carried
in my ears for ten years!
That clock,
that never kept time
but tolled the hours, nights
and days for five long years.
My piano...
my palms...
the dining-table!
He's kept it all in memory...
clean as a new pin!
My sideboard !
With the knight and Eve...
Eve with the basket of apples.
In the right drawer, way back,
was a thermometer.
Yes, there it is!
What's that signify?
Oh, it became a symbol
in the end...
Of inconstancy.
When set up our house,
the thermometer was missed.
It should have been put outside
the window.
I promised to put it out...
and forgot.
He promised to do it...
and forgot.
Then we nagged each other,
and finally,
to get away from it
I hid it in this drawer.
I began to hate it
and him as well.
Do you know what it signified?
Well, no one believed in
the permanency of our relationship
when we threw off our masks
so soon
and showed our antipathies.
In the first days we lived
as if we were on springs...
ready to jump at any time.
Like the thermometer...
and here it is still!
Up and down, always changing,
like the weather.
My chess-board!
He bought that to pass away
the long days of waiting
before the little one came!
Who does he play with now?
With me.
Where is he?
He's in his room
writing a letter!
Where?
There!
And here he's been...
for five long years?
Ten years...
five years alone!
But he loves solitude,
doesn't he?
I believe he's had
enough of it.
Will he show me the door?
Try! You risk nothing...
he's always courteous.
I haven't done anything
to that deserter!
You'll risk his asking
about the child.
But it's he who must help me
find the child.
First to get out of
this disagreeable neighbourhood
Then to get me
to run after him.
He's taken the girl
as hostage...
to be raised in the ballet...
that she has shows
a natural ability for.
The ballet! The father
mustn't know that...
as he hates the stage!
The stage!
I've been on it, too!
You?!
Yes...as accompanist.
Poor Gerda.
Why so?
I loved the life...
and when I was
imprisoned here
it wasn't the jailer's fault
but the prison's...
that I didn't thrive.
But now you've had
enough of it?
Now I love quiet and solitude...
my child above everything.
Hush, he's coming!
Now I'll leave you!
Don't think of what
you should say...
it will come of itself...
like the next move
in a chess game.
I fear his first glances most,
for in them I'll read
whether I've changed
for the better or worse
whether I've become
old and ugly.
If he finds you aged,
he'll dare approach you.
If he finds you just as young,
he'll lose hope
and he's more humble
than you think.
He went out to the letter-box.
I can never go through with this!
How shall I be able
to ask him
about getting this divorce?
I'm going!
It's too brazen!
Stay! You know his kindness
is unlimited.
He'll help you,
for the child's sake.
No, no!
He's the only one
who can help.
All through?
Set up the board again Louise...
and we'll start over.
Hello! - Good evening,
is it you, mother...Yes, thanks
Louise is already sitting
at the chess-board
but is a bit tired from things
she's had to do.
Yes, it's all done now,
everything's finished.
Just little things.
If it's warm?
The thunder storm
passed over our heads,
right over us,
but it didn't strike!
A false alarm!
What did you say?
Fischers! Yes, but I think
they're about to move!
Yes, it goes at....6.15.
The outer route
through the islands...
and arrives at...
let me see...8.25!
Did you have
a nice time?
Yes, he's too ridiculous
when he gets started.
What did Maria
say about it?
How has it been
this summer?
Louise and I have kept
each other company.
She's so nice
and sweet-tempered.
No thanks...not that!
My eyes? Yes,
I'm getting near-sighted...
but I say like
the confectioner's old wife:
there's nothing to look at!
Wish I were a little deaf too!
Deaf and blind!
The neighbours up above
make a horrible lot of noise
at night.
It's some kind of
gambling club.
There...now they're on the line
to listen !
Think of it, breaking into
our conversation by listening.
To-morrow then, at 6.15.
Thanks so much, mother.
Same to you! I'll be sure to.
Good-by, mother!
Was it you?
Wasn't it Louise, just now?
How…did you...come here?
Forgive me, I was passing through,
walked by...
and I felt a longing
to see my old home again.
The windows were open.
Do you find it the same?
It's the same,
but something else...
There's something else.
Are you satisfied...
with your life?
Oh...yes!...
It's as I wanted it.
And the child?
Oh...she grows and thrives.
She's fine.
Then I shan't ask any more.
Do you wish anything
of me?
Can I be of service to you
in any way?
I thank you,
but...I need nothing,
after seeing that things
are well with you too!
Would you like to see
Anne-Charlotte?
I don't think so.
Now when I hear
that all is well with her.
No...it's so hard
to begin again.
It's like revision lessons,
that you really know...
although the teacher
doesn't think so.
I'm so far away
from all that...
I was away
in wholly other places.
and I can't connect
with the past...
It's hard for me
to be discourteous
but I can't ask you
to sit down.
You are another man's wife.
And you aren't the same woman
I parted from.
Am I so...changed?
Like a stranger!
Voice, look, manner.
Have I aged?
I don't know!
I find you so strange
I can barely use "thou" .
I guess it'd be the same
with my daughter.
Don't talk like that!...
I'd rather see you angry.
Why should I be angry?
All the wicked things
I've done to you.
Have you?...
I don't feel you have.
Didn't you read the complaint?
Not at all...I left that
to my lawyer.
And the decision?
I haven't read that either.
As I didn't intend to marry again,
I wasn't interested in such papers.
What did the papers say?
That I was too old?
That was only the truth,
so that need not embarrass you.
I wrote precisely the same thing
in my answer
and requested that the judge
give you your freedom.
Did you write that...
...for YOU!
For me?
Yes !..I couldn't say I was too old
when we were married
for then the child's arrival
might have been misinterpreted.
And it was OUR child, wasn't it?
You know that!...But...
Do you mean
I should be ashamed of my age?
Yes, if I took to dancing
the Boston
and playing cards all night,
I'd soon be
in a wheelchair
or on an operating table.
That'd be shameful.
You don't look like that.
Did you think the separation
would be the death of me?
There are those who believe
that you murdered me.
Do I look as if
I were murdered?
You needn't let your conscience
torture you on my account.
Why did you marry me?
You know well enough
why a man marries...
and that I didn't have to beg for your love,
you know too.
And you must remember
how we smiled together
at all the wise counsellors
who warned you.
But why you ever tempted me
I could never understand
for after the wedding ceremony
you didn't see me...
but behaved as if you were
at someone else's wedding.
I thought that you must have
made a wager to murder me.
All of my business subordinates
hated me for being their chief.
But they soon became
your friends.
As soon as I acquired an enemy,
he became your friend!
you should not hate your enemies,
true...
but you should not love
MY enemies!
However, when I realized
how things were,
I began to pack up,
but first I wanted
a living witness
to your having spread
a falsehood
and that's why I waited
until the baby arrived.
To think that you could be
so deceitful.
I became secretive
but I never lied.
You gradually transformed
my friends into detectives
and you seduced my own brother
to faithlessness toward me.
But, worst of all
you awakened doubt
about your child's legitimacy...
with your thoughtless chatter.
I've taken that back!
An escaped word can't be caught
on the wing again.
And worst is, the false report
has reached the child
who sees her mother as just a...
Oh, no!
Yes, that's the way it is!
You built a high tower
on the foundation of a lie.
and now the tower
is crashing down on you.
It isn't true!
The truth is...I just met
Anne-Charlotte.
You met...?
We met on the stairs,
and she called me "uncle"...
Do you know what
an "uncle" is?
He's an old friend of the family
and the mother.
And I know I pass for "uncle"
at her school too.
This is horrible
...for the child!
Did you meet?
Yes! But I wasn't obliged
to tell anyone.
Haven't I the right
to keep silent?
For that matter,
the meeting was so distressing
that I blotted it out of my mind,
as if it had never existed.
What can I do
to make reparation?
YOU!...YOU can't make reparation.
That's to say, reparation
has already been made.
Can't I make amends...
Can't I ask you
to forgive?
What do you mean?
To restore...make reparation.
Do you mean to re-unite...
begin again...
make you mistress
of the house?
I don't want you!
I don't have to
listen to this!
Accept it!
That's a beautiful maid
you've got.
Yes, she IS beautiful.
Where did you get her?
Is it a bill?
...twenty-five!
Just the right change !
Poor Gerda!
What do you mean?
That I should be jealous
of your servant?
That's not what I meant!
Yes, and you meant
you were too old for me,
but not for her.
I understand the insult.
She is beautiful though,
for a servant.
Poor Gerda!
Why do you say that?
Because I pity you.
Jealous of my servant...
that's reparation!
Me… jealous!
Mr. Fischer?
Wrong apartment.
Oh yes, that's me.
He's eloped?
Who has he eloped with?
The confectioner Starck's daughter!
Oh, good God!
How old was she?
Just eighteen!
Just a child.
I knew he'd run away...
but with a woman!
Now you are happy?
No, I'm not at all happy.
Although it comforts me to see
there's justice in the world.
Life runs fast,
and now you're in the boat
that I was in.
Her eighteen years
against my twenty-nine...
I'm old...too old for him!
Everything's relative.
But now to another matter!
Where's your child?
My child! I had forgotten.
My child! Good Lord! Help me!
He's taken my child
away with him...
He loved Anne-Charlotte
as his own daughter!
Come with me to the police...
come with me!
Me?
Now you ask too much!
Help me !
Karl Fredrik, fetch a cab...
Will you do it?
For Christ's sake...
aren't we human beings?
It's beginning to rain
lend me an umbrella.
Eighteen years old...
only eighteen!
The peace of old age!
Louise!
Come and play chess
with me!
Has the consul...?
He's gone out
on an errand.
Is it still raining?
No, not now!
Then I'll go out and
cool off a little.
Do you know
the confectioner's daughter?
Yes...very slightly.
Was she beautiful?
Yes.
Did you know
the people upstairs?
I've never seen them!
Tactful as ever!
I've learned to not
see nor hear in this house.
I must admit that
acquired deafness
Keep tea in readiness...
and I'll go out and cool off.
And one thing...
you see what's going on here...
but don't ask me anything.
No, sir...
I'm not inquisitive.
Thanks my child.
That was a good little shower
we had.
Quite a blessing
Now we'll soon get
some raspberries.
Then you must let me
order a few litres.
We're tired of doing
our own preserving...
It just stands and ferments
and gets mouldy.
Yes, I know
all about that...
You have to keep an eye
on the jars
There are those
who put in salicylic acid...
but that's a new trick
that I won't touch.
Salicylic...that's said to be
antiseptic...
...and that might be good.
Yes, but you can taste it...
so it's cheating.
Have you a telephone
Mr. Starck?
No. I don't have a telephone.
Why do you ask that?
Oh, I was just thinking...
you needs a telephone
sometimes...
orders...
important communications.
That may be, but sometimes
it's good to escape...
...communications.
Quite so...
...quite so!
Yes, my heart always thumps
when it rings.
You never know what you'll hear.
And I want peace, peace,
above all things
Me too!
It's time they lit the street lamp!
He's probably forgotten us,
as it's lit down the avenue.
No!...Then he'll soon be here.
It'll be really fun to see
our lamp being lit again.
Anything new?
Nothing new.
Was it my brother?
No, it was the lady.
What did she want?
To talk to you, sir!
But I don't want to!
Do I comfort my executioner?
I used to do that,
but now I'm tired of it.
And the confectioner's Agnes
do you think he knows
anything yet?
It's hard to say...
he never speaks of his sorrows...
nor does anyone else...
in this silent house.
Should he be told?
No, for heaven's sake.
But it's probably not the first time
she's given him worry.
He never talks about her.
It's horrible!
No...leave it.
I don't want to know anything!
It's terrible...
Poor Gerda!
It would be better to know...
I can't make myself act.
I can defend myself...
but strike back, no!
But if you avoid a danger,
it'll force itself on you
and if you don't resist,
you're crushed.
But if you don't allow yourself
to take part...
you're unassailable.
Unassailable?
Everything takes care
of itself, if you don't...
muddle it...
...by interference.
How can they expect me
to guide them,
where so many passions rage!
I can neither subdue
their passions
nor change their course.
But the child?
I've relinquished my rights
and for that matter...
to be honest, I'm not eager...
certainly not now...
since she came in
and destroyed my memories.
She obliterated
everything beautiful
that I had hidden away...
and there's nothing left.
Who's this coming?
Agnes...
Good evening my child.
Where have you been?
I've been out
for a walk.
Mama has asked for you
several times
Has she?
Well, I'm here now.
Be a good girl and go down
and help her fire the little oven.
Is she angry with me?
She couldn't be angry
with you.
Oh yes she can...
but she never says anything.
Isn't that good, my child...
to escape scolding!
Does he know,
or doesn't he?
It's best he never knows!
But what has happened?
A rupture?
What did the lady say
on the telephone?
She wanted to talk to you.
How did she sound?
Was she excited?
Yes.
It seems rather brazen
to appeal to me
in a situation of this kind.
But the child!
Imagine…I met my daughter
on the stairs...
When I asked her
if she recognized me...
she called me "uncle"...
and then informed me
that her daddy was upstairs.
But to be sure...
he's her step-father
and he has all the rights!
They've set about
eradicating me...
...slandered me.
A cab's stopped at the corner.
I do pray they're not coming back
imagine hearing my child
singing her new father's praises,
Then to have
the old story start again...
"Why did you marry me? "
" You know well enough
but why did you want me?"
"You know well enough"
and so on...
until the end of time.
It's the consul coming.
How does he look?
He doesn't seem to be
in a hurry.
Rehearsing
what he's going to say...
Does he look satisfied?
More thoughtful than...
Oh, yes...It was always like that
If he came anywhere
near that woman...
...he became unfaithful
to me!
She could charm everyone...
but me.
To me she was coarse,
simple, ugly, stupid...
and to the others
she was refined...elegant...
beautiful...intelligent.
All the hatred
my independence aroused...
gathered about her
in endless sympathy!...
For the one who treated me
unjustly!
Through her they sought
to influence and control me,
wound me...
and in the end, kill me.
I'll go and open the door
for the consul.
This storm should
soon be over!
People can't endure
independence.
They want you to obey them.
All my business subordinates
down to the watchman
wanted me to obey them
and as I didn't care
to obey them,
they called me a despot!
The result!...
No details!
Can't we sit down...
I'm a bit tired.
Where is my child?
May I start at the beginning?
Begin!
I reached the station
with Gerda.
I saw him and Agnes
at the ticket window.
Agnes was there then?
Yes...
and your child!
Gerda stayed outside
and I approached them.
At that moment
he gave Agnes the tickets
but when she saw
that the tickets were 3rd class
she threw them in his face
and rushed out for a cab.
I began to get an explanation
from the gentleman
when Gerda ran up
and took the child...
and disappeared into the crowd.
What did the gentleman say?
Well...you know how it is
when you hear the other side...
I want to hear!
He was of course
not as bad as we'd thought...
he also has his good points!
Just so.
Might have known!
But you'll hardly expect me
to sit here
and listen to a eulogy
of my enemy?
No, not a eulogy, but...
mitigating circumstances.
Would you ever listen to me
when I informed you
of the true conditions?
Yes, you listened and answered
in disapproving silence...
as if I sat there telling lies.
You always stood up
for the wrong side
and you believed the lies
because you were infatuated
with Gerda.
But there was also
another motive.
Say no more, dear brother...
You see things only
from your point of view.
Do you want me to see
my position
from my enemy's point of view?
I can hardly lift my hand
against myself, can I?
I'm not your enemy
Yes, when you're friendly
with the one
who's been unjust to me.
Where's my child?
I don't know.
How did it finish at the station?
The gentleman took a train south.
And the others?
Disappeared.
Then I may have them stuck
in my craw again.
Did you notice whether the others
went with him?
No, he went alone.
Then we're rid of him at least!
Number two!
The mother and child!
Do you think they'll come back?
She won't...
She'd have to make up to you
in front of Louise.
I'd forgotten that!
She really honoured me
by being jealous!
I believe there's justice
in the world after all.
She found out
Agnes was younger, as well.
Poor...Gerda!
But in such a case as this
you can't tell people
that justice exists
for it's not true they love justice!
And their dirt
must be handled delicately.
And Nemesis...
that's only for others!
There it goes ringing again.
It sounds like a rattlesnake
Did the snake bite you?
The lady's going
to her mother in Dalarna
to settle down there
with the child.
The mother and child
in the country,
and in a good home!
Now it's cleared up!
And the lady asked me
to go up
and put out the lights
in the apartment.
Do it right away.
And draw the curtains.
I think that storm has passed over.
It really seems to have cleared
then the moon will be out.
It was a glorious shower of rain!
Splendid!
Look, there's the lamp-lighter!
At last!
The first light...
Now it's autumn!
That's our time of year, chaps!
Twilight's beginning...
but with it
comes understanding...
that lights the way
like a dark lantern...
and keeps you
from going astray.
Louise!
Close the windows
and pull down the shades.
Then the memories
can go to sleep, in peace!
The...peace...of...old...age!
And this autumn I'll move
from the Silent House.
Subtitles by FatPlank [RLB] for KG
I'll be with you soon.
Good evening, Mr. Starck.
Good evening, sir.
It continues to be warm.
Yes, it's so hot, and we've been
making preserves all day long.
Is that so - is it a good fruit year?
Fairly good...we had a cold spring
but the summer's been intolerably hot...
We city folk
have been made to feel it.
I came from the country yesterday...
when the evenings get dark,
you long to get inside.
Neither I nor my wife
have been outside the city limits.
The business is at a standstill,
but you must stay at your post.
... get ready for winter.
First there's the strawberries,
and then the cherries,
the raspberries and the gooseberries,
the melons
and the whole autumn harvest.
Tell me something, Mr. Starck,
are they going to sell this house?
No, not that I've heard!
Are there many people
living here?
I think there are ten families counting those
that live on the court side...
but none of them know each other...
there's very little gossip
in this house...
...it seems rather as if
they want to hide themselves.
And it's called
the silent house!
Yes, they don't do
much talking here.
But many a drama
has been played out here.
Tell me, Mr. Starck, who lives here,
one flight up, over my brother?
Up there where
the red curtains are shining...
that's where the tenant died
last summer
when it stood empty
for a month...
and about a week ago
a couple moved in...
but I haven't seen them...
I don't think they go out even.
What makes you ask, consul?
Oh - I don't know!...
The four red curtains
look as if bloody dramas
were rehearsed behind them...
so I imagine!
There's a phœnix-palm there
like an iron whip
throwing its shadow on the shade.
If you could only see
some human figures.
I've seen plenty of them,
but only late at night!
Were they women - or men?
There were both kinds.
But now I must go down
to my pots.
I'll be ready soon...
Louise is sewing a button on my glove.
Do you intend to
go down town then?
We might walk down a bit.
Whom were you talking with?
It was only the confectioner.
Oh, yes, he's a pleasant man...
my only companion here all summer,
for that matter.
Thanks, my child...you can leave
the windows open...no mozzies.
I'm coming now.
- Good evening Louise.
- Good evening, Consul.
Have you really sat here at home
every evening, never been out?
These light summer evenings
make me nervous...
It's beautiful in the country,
of course,
...but in the city it has the effect
of being unnatural, almost terrible.
When they light the first street lamp
I feel tranquil once more
and able to go
for my evening walk
Then I get tired,
and sleep better.
But tell me, why do you stay
here in the city
when you could be
in the country?
I don't know!
I've become fixed.
I'm bound to these rooms
by memories.
I feel peace and protection
only in there.
In there! It's interesting to see
your home from outside
I fancy I see someone else
wandering about in there
Think of it - I've wandered in there
for ten years.
Is it ten years now?
Yes, time flies, when it's really past,
but while it's passing it seems long.
The house was new at that time...
and I saw them lay the parquet floor
in the drawing-room...
saw them paint the panels and doors
and she chose the wall-papers
that are still on.
Yes, that's the way it is!
The confectioner and I
are the oldest tenants in the house
and he too has had
his vicissitudes.
He's the sort of human being
who never has any luck.
Always in some tangle.
It's as if I lived his life
and carried his burden
with mine.
Does he drink then?
No! Nor is he ever negligent,
but he has no drive.
Yes, he and I know
the chronicles of the house.
They've driven in here
with wedding chariots...
and out with hearses.
and that letter-box
on the corner
has received the secrets.
Didn't you have a death here
around midsummer?
Yes, we had a typhoid case,
it was a bank clerk.
And then the rooms
were empty for a month.
The coffin came out first,
then the widow...
and the children
and the furniture last.
Was that one flight up?
Yes, up there,
where there's a light...
the new tenants,
whom I don't know yet.
Haven't you even
seen them?
I never ask about the tenants
Whatever offers itself voluntarily
I accept...
without hassle
and without involvement.
for I'm careful about
the peace of old age.
Yes, old age!
I think it's beautiful to be old...
for then you haven't very much
of the record left to make.
I'm balancing my book with life
and fellow beings
and have already begun
to pack for the journey.
Solitude is not
what it might be,
but when no one has
any claim on you,
then freedom is won.
The freedom to come and go,
to think and act
to eat and sleep
according to your choice.
They're stirring up there!
Yes, it's so mysterious,
but it's worse at night.
Sometimes they have music,
but very bad.
Sometimes I imagine
that they play cards
and later, after midnight,
cabs come.
I never complain about
the tenants
for then they revenge
themselves.
It's best not to know
anything!
What a tremendous post
that fellow had!
It seemed to be
a lot of circulars!
But who was he?
Musician? It couldn't be anyone
but the new tenant one flight up.
Musician, manager, a bit operatic,
bordering on vaudeville, gambler...
Adonis, a little of each
With that white skin
he ought to have black hair
but it was brown...
it was dyed or else a wig
A smoking jacket at home
suggests lack of wardrobe
and the movements of his hands
as he dropped the letters
suggested shuffling,
cut and deal.
Always waltzes,
perhaps they have a dancing school.
but almost always it's the same waltz...
what's it called?
Upon my word, if it isn't... "La Pluie d'Or"...
I know that by heart.
Yes, that one and "Alcazar".
Are you still satisfied
with Louise?
Very much so.
Isn't she going to marry?
Not to my knowledge.
No sweetheart around?
Why do you ask that?
I? NO thanks!
I was too old the last time I married,
considering we had a child immediately...
But I am now,
and I wish to grow older in peace...
Do you think I'd want
a mistress in my house
to make away with my life,
my honour, and my goods?
Your life and goods
remained to you.
Was there any doubt
about the honour?
Don't you know
that there was?
What are you trying
to say?
She murdered your honour
when she left.
So I've gone about murdered
and didn't know it?
You didn't know?
NO, but now you'll know
the real circumstances...
When, at the age of fifty,
I married a comparatively young girl...
whose affection I had won,
and who gladly gave me her hand
I promised her that when my age
became heavy for her youth
I should go my way,
restoring her freedom.
When in good time
the child came
and neither cared for
anything more of that sort
and after our daughter began
to grow away from me,
and I felt I was unnecessary,
I left,
that is to say...
I took a boat,
as we were staying on an island
at the time...
I'd kept my promise,
and saved my honour...
hadn't I?
Yes, but she considered
her honour attacked,
because she wanted to be
the one to leave,
and that's why
she murdered you,
with silent accusations,
that you never knew about.
Did she accuse herself?
No, she had no reason
to do so.
Then there's no danger.
Do you know anything
about hers or the child's fate?
I don't want to know anything!
After I'd gone through
all the agonies of the loss,
I considered the matter ended,
and as only the beautiful memories
remained in our apartment, I remained.
Think, that I got out of all that
with my life!
And now it's all over!
Shall we take a turn
on the Avenue?
Let's do so, and we'll see them
lighting the first street lamp.
Louise...
Be so good
as to give me my stick!
The light summer stick,
just to hold in my hand.
Moonlight to-night!
The August moon?
I believe it's really a full moon.
Here, sir!
We'll be gone for a while,
can't say how long.
Good evening, Miss...
It's rather warm...
Have your gentlemen gone?
Yes, they've gone down the Avenue
The first evening that the master
has been out this summer.
We old ones love dusk.
It hides so many faults in ourselves
and in others too.
Do you know, Miss, that my old woman
is going blind,
but she doesn't want
an operation!
There's nothing worth looking at
she says...
and sometimes she wishes
she were deaf too.
I sometimes feel that way.
You lead a quiet
and beautiful life in there
in prosperity and without worry.
I never hear a loud voice
nor the slamming of a door...
perhaps a little too quiet
for a young lady like you?
Not at all.
You never have callers either?
No, only the consul comes...
and I've never seen such brotherly love.
Where are you going, my girl?
I'm just going for a little walk!
That's alright, but come back soon.
Do you think your master
still mourns his loved ones?
He doesn't mourn,
nor does he miss them,
as he doesn't long for
their return
but he lives with them
in memories...
just the beautiful ones.
But the daughter's fate
must worry him sometimes...
Yes, he must fear
the mother's marrying again...
raising the question of
who the step-father would be.
I've been told that the wife
refused all support at first
but after five years had passed
she sent a lawyer
with a long bill
amounting to thousands.
I don't know about that.
I believe she's more beautiful
in his memory than...
Excuse me...
does Mr. Fischer live here?
Mr. Fischer?
Not that I know of.
Perhaps it's Fischer
who lives one flight up.
Ring one flight up
around the corner.
One flight up.
Thanks.
Now it'll be
a sleepless night again...
when they carry up bottles.
What sort of people are they?
Why are they never seen?
They must go out the back way...
I've never seen them.
But I hear them!
Me too.
Corks popping, doors slamming
and other sorts
of banging perhaps.
That was lightning!
One, two, three...
They're just heat flashes...
There's no thunder.
Starck dear, come down
and help me melt the sugar.
I'm coming, old girl.
See...we're making jam
I'm coming! I'm coming!
Hasn't my brother returned?
No, sir.
He went in to telephone
so I came ahead.
Well, he'll be here soon
of course.
What's this?
What does it say?
"Boston Club after midnight -
at Fischers"
Who's Fischers,
do you know, Louise?
A man was just here
with wine...
looking for someone called Fischer
one flight up.
One flight up, Fischers!
Red curtains
lit up like a cigar sign at night...
I believe you've had bad company
come into the house.
What's a Boston Club?
It might be something
quite innocent
But in this case
I'm not so sure.
But how did the post card...?
It was he who dropped it
a while ago...
...putting them in the box.
Fischer?
I've heard that name before
in connection with something
I've forgotten.
What in heaven's name
are they doing up there?
Killing each other?
There's another scream...
in the stairway.
Is it really you,
my one-time sister-in-law?
How did you get here
in this house,
and why begrudge
my brother his peace?
I believed he'd moved...
it's not my fault.
Don't be afraid of me,
you mustn't be afraid of me, Gerda
Can I help you?
What's going on up there?
He struck me!
Is your little girl with you?
Yes.
She has a step-father then?
Yes!
Put up your hair
and calm yourself,
and I'll try
to straighten this out...
but spare my brother.
He hates me, of course.
No, he doesn't hate you.
Where's he now?
Out walking on the avenue,
he'll soon be here
with his paper.
But you must go back up
to your...
I can't go back.
I can't go back to that man.
Who and what is he?
He's been...a singer.
"Has been", and is now...?
A swindler!
Yes.
Keeps gambling rooms.
Yes.
And the child? ...a decoy!
Don't say that!
You're too harsh!
Yes, we must handle unclean things
delicately...so delicately!
But a righteous matter
can be dirtied.
Why did you defile his honour
and why did you deceive me
into being your accomplice?
He deserted me...
and that was an insult.
Not for you! Your youth saved you
from humiliation.
He should've allowed ME
to leave HIM.
Why did you want him
to have the dishonour?
Why would it have to be me?
I can't follow your thoughts,
which only turn on hate...
But if we let the matter
of restoring his honour go
and think about
saving his child.
What shall we do then?
She is my child.
The law gave her to me,
and my husband is her father.
Quiet...he's coming.
Yes...it's him!
Come here
and see your home!
How he has kept everything
just as you arranged it.
Don't be afraid...
he can't see us here in the dark
The light blinds him
you see.
Just think how
he's lied to me.
In what respect?
He hasn't aged any!
He just grew tired of me.
See the collar he wears
and the very latest scarf!
I'm sure he has a sweetheart!
Her portrait's on the mantel...
between the candelabras.
That's me...and the child!
Does he still love me?
The memory of you.
How strange!
He's looking at us.
Stand still!
He's looking right in my eyes.
Stand still!
He can't see you!
He looks like
a dead man.
Wasn't he murdered?
Don't say that!
Karl Fredrik!
Are you alone?
I thought...
Are you really alone?
As you can see!
It's so close, and the flowers
give me headache.
Now I'll just finish my paper.
Now, about you...
do you want me to go up with you?
Perhaps. But there'll be
a lot of trouble.
But the child
must be saved...
And I am a lawyer.
Very well, for the child's sake.
Follow me.
Karl Fredrik!...
Come and play chess!
Where did my brother go?
He was outside just now.
He can't be far away.
What a dreadful racket
they're making up there.
It's as if they were tramping
on my head.
Now they are pulling out
bureau drawers
as if they intended to move,
run away perhaps.
If you could only play chess Louise!
I can...a little...
Well...if you only know how
to move the pieces...it's something.
Sit down, my child!
They are making such a clatter
up there
the chandelier shakes,
and below the confectioner
is stoking his fire.
I think I'll move out soon.
I've thought for a long time
you ought to move, sir, anyway.
"Anyway?"
It isn't good to sit too long
among old memories.
Why not?
When it's all over,
all memories are beautiful.
But you might live
twenty years yet, sir...
and that'll be too long
to live in memories
that fade nevertheless
and some day perhaps
may change colour.
How wise you are,
little child!
Begin now...
Move a pawn.
But not the queen's...
then you'll weaken yourself
in two moves.
Then I'll begin with the knight
Just as dangerous, my dear.
But I think I'll begin
with the knight anyway
Good! Then I'll move
my jumping-pawn.
It's Mr. Starck with the biscuits.
He walks as quietly
as a little mouse.
It seems like only yesterday
Starck was first up here.
Well, it's ten years ago.
When you came
with the wedding cake.
Does it look the same?
Just the same...
the palms have grown of course.
Otherwise quite the same.
And will be so until you come
with the funeral cake.
After a certain age
nothing changes...
everything comes to a standstill
but life slides along
like a sled down a slope.
Yes, that's the way it is!
And in that way
it's quiet.
No love, no friends...
just a bit of company
in the solitude.
and then human beings
become just people...
without the proprietary rights
to your feelings
and sympathies.
And then you loosen
like an old tooth
without pain
and without being missed.
There's Louise, for example...
a young and beautiful girl
through whose presence
I experience satisfaction
like that of a work of art
you don't expect to own.
Nothing disturbs
our relationship!
My brother and I
associate with each other
like two elderly gentlemen
who never become too familiar
or force each other's
confidences.
Through keeping a neutrality
with people
you get a certain distance
and at a distance we always make
a better impression!
In a word, I'm satisfied
with old age
and its peace and quiet.
Louise!
The washing has just come back
and I must check it.
Well, Mr. Starck,
won't you sit down and talk
or perhaps you can play chess?
I can't stay away
from my pots,
and at eleven
I must fire the bake-oven.
Thanks, however,
for your hospitality.
If you should see
my brother,
ask him to come in
and keep me company.
I'll be sure to do that.
The peace and quiet of old age!
Can't you postpone
whatever you're doing
about the washing?
That's impossible...
the washwoman's in a hurry
and her husband and children
are waiting for her.
Is that you, Karl Fredrik?
No, it's the postman.
Excuse my coming in
but the doors are open.
Is there a letter for me?
Only a post-card.
Mr. Fischer again...Boston Club.
That's him up above!
With the white hands
and the smoking jacket!
And to me!
It's scandalous !
I have to move!
Is that you, Karl Fredrik?
It's the ice-man!
It's fine to get ice
in this heat!
But be careful of the bottles
in the ice-box.
And put the piece on edge,
so I can hear the water drops
fall as it melts.
It's my water clock,
that measures out the time.
the long time.
Look here,
where do you get that ice?
Has he gone?
They all go home...
to be able to hear their own voices
and have company.
Is that you, Karl Fredrik?
Who's playing?
My impromptu!
Is it you, Karl Fredrik?
It's me.
Where have you been
so long?
I had a bit of business
to straighten out.
Have you been alone?
Yes!
Come and play chess
with me now.
I'd rather talk!
And you too may need
to hear your voice.
Quite true, but it's so easy for us
to get into the past.
Then we forget the present.
The present doesn't exist...
what is now passing
is empty nothingness.
The future or the past...
The future preferably,
for hope exists there.
Hope, for what?
A change!
Good ! You mean to say
that you have had enough
of the peace of old age?
Perhaps!
Quite so!
And if you were able
to choose
between solitude
and the past...
No ghosts however!
What about
your memories then?
They don't disturb...
they are my poems
about certain realities.
but if the dead
should appear again,
that would be ghosts.
However - in your memory
which of the two
gives the most beautiful mirage...
the woman or the child?
Both!
I cannot separate them...
and that's why I never sought
to keep the child.
But was that right?
Didn't you think of the possibility
of a step-father?
I didn't think
so far ahead then,
but since...I have...reflected...
about...that...matter.
A step-father, who misused...
perhaps degraded your child!
Hush!
What did you hear?
I thought I heard
" the little feet,"
the little tripping feet
in the hall
when she came
to find me.
It was the child
that was the best.
To see this dauntless
little being
who feared nothing...
who divined nothing
of life's treachery...
who had no secrets at all.
I remember her first realization
of human evil.
She noticed a beautiful child
in the park...
and she ran with open arms
to kiss the stranger.
The beautiful child
returned the friendliness
by biting her cheek
and sticking out her tongue.
You should have seen
my little Anne-Charlotte then.
She stood petrified...
not by the pain...
but with terror
to see this abyss,
which is called the human heart,
open itself.
But why are we here
talking about this?
Is it on account of the heat
or the thunder, or what?
Loneliness brings heavy thoughts
and you ought to have company.
This summer in the city
seems to have broken you down.
It's only these last few weeks...
The illness...and the corpse
they had up there
affected me...as if it were me
going through it all.
The confectioner's troubles
have also become mine.
So much so
that I worry about his business,
his wife's eye trouble...
his future.
And lately...I dream every night
about my little Anne-Charlotte.
I see her in dangers...
strange, unthinkable, nameless.
And before I sleep,
when the ear is most sensitive,
I hear her little feet,
and sometimes I hear her voice.
Where is she then?
Yes, where !
Suppose you should meet her
in the street?
I imagine I'd lose my reason
or fall to the ground.
Five years at that age
make you unrecognizable!
Imagine not recognizing
your own child!
No, I wouldn't survive it!
No, I'd rather keep
my little four-year-old
on the home altar.
I don't want any other.
Is that you, Louise, arranging things in the linen-closet?
It smells so clean,
and it reminds me of - Yes...
the mother of the house
at the linen-closet
the good fairy, who takes care of things
the housekeeper with the flat-iron
who smooths the rough places
and takes out the wrinkles.
Yes, the wrinkles.
Now I think…I'll…go…in
and write a letter.
If you care to stay
I'll be right back.
Are you...
Oh God! That sound that I've carried
in my ears for ten years!
That clock,
that never kept time
but tolled the hours, nights
and days for five long years.
My piano...
my palms...
the dining-table!
He's kept it all in memory...
clean as a new pin!
My sideboard !
With the knight and Eve...
Eve with the basket of apples.
In the right drawer, way back,
was a thermometer.
Yes, there it is!
What's that signify?
Oh, it became a symbol
in the end...
Of inconstancy.
When set up our house,
the thermometer was missed.
It should have been put outside
the window.
I promised to put it out...
and forgot.
He promised to do it...
and forgot.
Then we nagged each other,
and finally,
to get away from it
I hid it in this drawer.
I began to hate it
and him as well.
Do you know what it signified?
Well, no one believed in
the permanency of our relationship
when we threw off our masks
so soon
and showed our antipathies.
In the first days we lived
as if we were on springs...
ready to jump at any time.
Like the thermometer...
and here it is still!
Up and down, always changing,
like the weather.
My chess-board!
He bought that to pass away
the long days of waiting
before the little one came!
Who does he play with now?
With me.
Where is he?
He's in his room
writing a letter!
Where?
There!
And here he's been...
for five long years?
Ten years...
five years alone!
But he loves solitude,
doesn't he?
I believe he's had
enough of it.
Will he show me the door?
Try! You risk nothing...
he's always courteous.
I haven't done anything
to that deserter!
You'll risk his asking
about the child.
But it's he who must help me
find the child.
First to get out of
this disagreeable neighbourhood
Then to get me
to run after him.
He's taken the girl
as hostage...
to be raised in the ballet...
that she has shows
a natural ability for.
The ballet! The father
mustn't know that...
as he hates the stage!
The stage!
I've been on it, too!
You?!
Yes...as accompanist.
Poor Gerda.
Why so?
I loved the life...
and when I was
imprisoned here
it wasn't the jailer's fault
but the prison's...
that I didn't thrive.
But now you've had
enough of it?
Now I love quiet and solitude...
my child above everything.
Hush, he's coming!
Now I'll leave you!
Don't think of what
you should say...
it will come of itself...
like the next move
in a chess game.
I fear his first glances most,
for in them I'll read
whether I've changed
for the better or worse
whether I've become
old and ugly.
If he finds you aged,
he'll dare approach you.
If he finds you just as young,
he'll lose hope
and he's more humble
than you think.
He went out to the letter-box.
I can never go through with this!
How shall I be able
to ask him
about getting this divorce?
I'm going!
It's too brazen!
Stay! You know his kindness
is unlimited.
He'll help you,
for the child's sake.
No, no!
He's the only one
who can help.
All through?
Set up the board again Louise...
and we'll start over.
Hello! - Good evening,
is it you, mother...Yes, thanks
Louise is already sitting
at the chess-board
but is a bit tired from things
she's had to do.
Yes, it's all done now,
everything's finished.
Just little things.
If it's warm?
The thunder storm
passed over our heads,
right over us,
but it didn't strike!
A false alarm!
What did you say?
Fischers! Yes, but I think
they're about to move!
Yes, it goes at....6.15.
The outer route
through the islands...
and arrives at...
let me see...8.25!
Did you have
a nice time?
Yes, he's too ridiculous
when he gets started.
What did Maria
say about it?
How has it been
this summer?
Louise and I have kept
each other company.
She's so nice
and sweet-tempered.
No thanks...not that!
My eyes? Yes,
I'm getting near-sighted...
but I say like
the confectioner's old wife:
there's nothing to look at!
Wish I were a little deaf too!
Deaf and blind!
The neighbours up above
make a horrible lot of noise
at night.
It's some kind of
gambling club.
There...now they're on the line
to listen !
Think of it, breaking into
our conversation by listening.
To-morrow then, at 6.15.
Thanks so much, mother.
Same to you! I'll be sure to.
Good-by, mother!
Was it you?
Wasn't it Louise, just now?
How…did you...come here?
Forgive me, I was passing through,
walked by...
and I felt a longing
to see my old home again.
The windows were open.
Do you find it the same?
It's the same,
but something else...
There's something else.
Are you satisfied...
with your life?
Oh...yes!...
It's as I wanted it.
And the child?
Oh...she grows and thrives.
She's fine.
Then I shan't ask any more.
Do you wish anything
of me?
Can I be of service to you
in any way?
I thank you,
but...I need nothing,
after seeing that things
are well with you too!
Would you like to see
Anne-Charlotte?
I don't think so.
Now when I hear
that all is well with her.
No...it's so hard
to begin again.
It's like revision lessons,
that you really know...
although the teacher
doesn't think so.
I'm so far away
from all that...
I was away
in wholly other places.
and I can't connect
with the past...
It's hard for me
to be discourteous
but I can't ask you
to sit down.
You are another man's wife.
And you aren't the same woman
I parted from.
Am I so...changed?
Like a stranger!
Voice, look, manner.
Have I aged?
I don't know!
I find you so strange
I can barely use "thou" .
I guess it'd be the same
with my daughter.
Don't talk like that!...
I'd rather see you angry.
Why should I be angry?
All the wicked things
I've done to you.
Have you?...
I don't feel you have.
Didn't you read the complaint?
Not at all...I left that
to my lawyer.
And the decision?
I haven't read that either.
As I didn't intend to marry again,
I wasn't interested in such papers.
What did the papers say?
That I was too old?
That was only the truth,
so that need not embarrass you.
I wrote precisely the same thing
in my answer
and requested that the judge
give you your freedom.
Did you write that...
...for YOU!
For me?
Yes !..I couldn't say I was too old
when we were married
for then the child's arrival
might have been misinterpreted.
And it was OUR child, wasn't it?
You know that!...But...
Do you mean
I should be ashamed of my age?
Yes, if I took to dancing
the Boston
and playing cards all night,
I'd soon be
in a wheelchair
or on an operating table.
That'd be shameful.
You don't look like that.
Did you think the separation
would be the death of me?
There are those who believe
that you murdered me.
Do I look as if
I were murdered?
You needn't let your conscience
torture you on my account.
Why did you marry me?
You know well enough
why a man marries...
and that I didn't have to beg for your love,
you know too.
And you must remember
how we smiled together
at all the wise counsellors
who warned you.
But why you ever tempted me
I could never understand
for after the wedding ceremony
you didn't see me...
but behaved as if you were
at someone else's wedding.
I thought that you must have
made a wager to murder me.
All of my business subordinates
hated me for being their chief.
But they soon became
your friends.
As soon as I acquired an enemy,
he became your friend!
you should not hate your enemies,
true...
but you should not love
MY enemies!
However, when I realized
how things were,
I began to pack up,
but first I wanted
a living witness
to your having spread
a falsehood
and that's why I waited
until the baby arrived.
To think that you could be
so deceitful.
I became secretive
but I never lied.
You gradually transformed
my friends into detectives
and you seduced my own brother
to faithlessness toward me.
But, worst of all
you awakened doubt
about your child's legitimacy...
with your thoughtless chatter.
I've taken that back!
An escaped word can't be caught
on the wing again.
And worst is, the false report
has reached the child
who sees her mother as just a...
Oh, no!
Yes, that's the way it is!
You built a high tower
on the foundation of a lie.
and now the tower
is crashing down on you.
It isn't true!
The truth is...I just met
Anne-Charlotte.
You met...?
We met on the stairs,
and she called me "uncle"...
Do you know what
an "uncle" is?
He's an old friend of the family
and the mother.
And I know I pass for "uncle"
at her school too.
This is horrible
...for the child!
Did you meet?
Yes! But I wasn't obliged
to tell anyone.
Haven't I the right
to keep silent?
For that matter,
the meeting was so distressing
that I blotted it out of my mind,
as if it had never existed.
What can I do
to make reparation?
YOU!...YOU can't make reparation.
That's to say, reparation
has already been made.
Can't I make amends...
Can't I ask you
to forgive?
What do you mean?
To restore...make reparation.
Do you mean to re-unite...
begin again...
make you mistress
of the house?
I don't want you!
I don't have to
listen to this!
Accept it!
That's a beautiful maid
you've got.
Yes, she IS beautiful.
Where did you get her?
Is it a bill?
...twenty-five!
Just the right change !
Poor Gerda!
What do you mean?
That I should be jealous
of your servant?
That's not what I meant!
Yes, and you meant
you were too old for me,
but not for her.
I understand the insult.
She is beautiful though,
for a servant.
Poor Gerda!
Why do you say that?
Because I pity you.
Jealous of my servant...
that's reparation!
Me… jealous!
Mr. Fischer?
Wrong apartment.
Oh yes, that's me.
He's eloped?
Who has he eloped with?
The confectioner Starck's daughter!
Oh, good God!
How old was she?
Just eighteen!
Just a child.
I knew he'd run away...
but with a woman!
Now you are happy?
No, I'm not at all happy.
Although it comforts me to see
there's justice in the world.
Life runs fast,
and now you're in the boat
that I was in.
Her eighteen years
against my twenty-nine...
I'm old...too old for him!
Everything's relative.
But now to another matter!
Where's your child?
My child! I had forgotten.
My child! Good Lord! Help me!
He's taken my child
away with him...
He loved Anne-Charlotte
as his own daughter!
Come with me to the police...
come with me!
Me?
Now you ask too much!
Help me !
Karl Fredrik, fetch a cab...
Will you do it?
For Christ's sake...
aren't we human beings?
It's beginning to rain
lend me an umbrella.
Eighteen years old...
only eighteen!
The peace of old age!
Louise!
Come and play chess
with me!
Has the consul...?
He's gone out
on an errand.
Is it still raining?
No, not now!
Then I'll go out and
cool off a little.
Do you know
the confectioner's daughter?
Yes...very slightly.
Was she beautiful?
Yes.
Did you know
the people upstairs?
I've never seen them!
Tactful as ever!
I've learned to not
see nor hear in this house.
I must admit that
acquired deafness
Keep tea in readiness...
and I'll go out and cool off.
And one thing...
you see what's going on here...
but don't ask me anything.
No, sir...
I'm not inquisitive.
Thanks my child.
That was a good little shower
we had.
Quite a blessing
Now we'll soon get
some raspberries.
Then you must let me
order a few litres.
We're tired of doing
our own preserving...
It just stands and ferments
and gets mouldy.
Yes, I know
all about that...
You have to keep an eye
on the jars
There are those
who put in salicylic acid...
but that's a new trick
that I won't touch.
Salicylic...that's said to be
antiseptic...
...and that might be good.
Yes, but you can taste it...
so it's cheating.
Have you a telephone
Mr. Starck?
No. I don't have a telephone.
Why do you ask that?
Oh, I was just thinking...
you needs a telephone
sometimes...
orders...
important communications.
That may be, but sometimes
it's good to escape...
...communications.
Quite so...
...quite so!
Yes, my heart always thumps
when it rings.
You never know what you'll hear.
And I want peace, peace,
above all things
Me too!
It's time they lit the street lamp!
He's probably forgotten us,
as it's lit down the avenue.
No!...Then he'll soon be here.
It'll be really fun to see
our lamp being lit again.
Anything new?
Nothing new.
Was it my brother?
No, it was the lady.
What did she want?
To talk to you, sir!
But I don't want to!
Do I comfort my executioner?
I used to do that,
but now I'm tired of it.
And the confectioner's Agnes
do you think he knows
anything yet?
It's hard to say...
he never speaks of his sorrows...
nor does anyone else...
in this silent house.
Should he be told?
No, for heaven's sake.
But it's probably not the first time
she's given him worry.
He never talks about her.
It's horrible!
No...leave it.
I don't want to know anything!
It's terrible...
Poor Gerda!
It would be better to know...
I can't make myself act.
I can defend myself...
but strike back, no!
But if you avoid a danger,
it'll force itself on you
and if you don't resist,
you're crushed.
But if you don't allow yourself
to take part...
you're unassailable.
Unassailable?
Everything takes care
of itself, if you don't...
muddle it...
...by interference.
How can they expect me
to guide them,
where so many passions rage!
I can neither subdue
their passions
nor change their course.
But the child?
I've relinquished my rights
and for that matter...
to be honest, I'm not eager...
certainly not now...
since she came in
and destroyed my memories.
She obliterated
everything beautiful
that I had hidden away...
and there's nothing left.
Who's this coming?
Agnes...
Good evening my child.
Where have you been?
I've been out
for a walk.
Mama has asked for you
several times
Has she?
Well, I'm here now.
Be a good girl and go down
and help her fire the little oven.
Is she angry with me?
She couldn't be angry
with you.
Oh yes she can...
but she never says anything.
Isn't that good, my child...
to escape scolding!
Does he know,
or doesn't he?
It's best he never knows!
But what has happened?
A rupture?
What did the lady say
on the telephone?
She wanted to talk to you.
How did she sound?
Was she excited?
Yes.
It seems rather brazen
to appeal to me
in a situation of this kind.
But the child!
Imagine…I met my daughter
on the stairs...
When I asked her
if she recognized me...
she called me "uncle"...
and then informed me
that her daddy was upstairs.
But to be sure...
he's her step-father
and he has all the rights!
They've set about
eradicating me...
...slandered me.
A cab's stopped at the corner.
I do pray they're not coming back
imagine hearing my child
singing her new father's praises,
Then to have
the old story start again...
"Why did you marry me? "
" You know well enough
but why did you want me?"
"You know well enough"
and so on...
until the end of time.
It's the consul coming.
How does he look?
He doesn't seem to be
in a hurry.
Rehearsing
what he's going to say...
Does he look satisfied?
More thoughtful than...
Oh, yes...It was always like that
If he came anywhere
near that woman...
...he became unfaithful
to me!
She could charm everyone...
but me.
To me she was coarse,
simple, ugly, stupid...
and to the others
she was refined...elegant...
beautiful...intelligent.
All the hatred
my independence aroused...
gathered about her
in endless sympathy!...
For the one who treated me
unjustly!
Through her they sought
to influence and control me,
wound me...
and in the end, kill me.
I'll go and open the door
for the consul.
This storm should
soon be over!
People can't endure
independence.
They want you to obey them.
All my business subordinates
down to the watchman
wanted me to obey them
and as I didn't care
to obey them,
they called me a despot!
The result!...
No details!
Can't we sit down...
I'm a bit tired.
Where is my child?
May I start at the beginning?
Begin!
I reached the station
with Gerda.
I saw him and Agnes
at the ticket window.
Agnes was there then?
Yes...
and your child!
Gerda stayed outside
and I approached them.
At that moment
he gave Agnes the tickets
but when she saw
that the tickets were 3rd class
she threw them in his face
and rushed out for a cab.
I began to get an explanation
from the gentleman
when Gerda ran up
and took the child...
and disappeared into the crowd.
What did the gentleman say?
Well...you know how it is
when you hear the other side...
I want to hear!
He was of course
not as bad as we'd thought...
he also has his good points!
Just so.
Might have known!
But you'll hardly expect me
to sit here
and listen to a eulogy
of my enemy?
No, not a eulogy, but...
mitigating circumstances.
Would you ever listen to me
when I informed you
of the true conditions?
Yes, you listened and answered
in disapproving silence...
as if I sat there telling lies.
You always stood up
for the wrong side
and you believed the lies
because you were infatuated
with Gerda.
But there was also
another motive.
Say no more, dear brother...
You see things only
from your point of view.
Do you want me to see
my position
from my enemy's point of view?
I can hardly lift my hand
against myself, can I?
I'm not your enemy
Yes, when you're friendly
with the one
who's been unjust to me.
Where's my child?
I don't know.
How did it finish at the station?
The gentleman took a train south.
And the others?
Disappeared.
Then I may have them stuck
in my craw again.
Did you notice whether the others
went with him?
No, he went alone.
Then we're rid of him at least!
Number two!
The mother and child!
Do you think they'll come back?
She won't...
She'd have to make up to you
in front of Louise.
I'd forgotten that!
She really honoured me
by being jealous!
I believe there's justice
in the world after all.
She found out
Agnes was younger, as well.
Poor...Gerda!
But in such a case as this
you can't tell people
that justice exists
for it's not true they love justice!
And their dirt
must be handled delicately.
And Nemesis...
that's only for others!
There it goes ringing again.
It sounds like a rattlesnake
Did the snake bite you?
The lady's going
to her mother in Dalarna
to settle down there
with the child.
The mother and child
in the country,
and in a good home!
Now it's cleared up!
And the lady asked me
to go up
and put out the lights
in the apartment.
Do it right away.
And draw the curtains.
I think that storm has passed over.
It really seems to have cleared
then the moon will be out.
It was a glorious shower of rain!
Splendid!
Look, there's the lamp-lighter!
At last!
The first light...
Now it's autumn!
That's our time of year, chaps!
Twilight's beginning...
but with it
comes understanding...
that lights the way
like a dark lantern...
and keeps you
from going astray.
Louise!
Close the windows
and pull down the shades.
Then the memories
can go to sleep, in peace!
The...peace...of...old...age!
And this autumn I'll move
from the Silent House.
Subtitles by FatPlank [RLB] for KG