The Secret Life of Words (2005) - full transcript

There is so little deep down.

Millions of millions of tons
of water, rocks and gas.

Affection.

Blood.

A hundred minutes, a thousand years.

Ashes. Light. Now.

This now.

A while ago ...

Fire!

No!

I told you before, didn't l?



There are very few things ...

Silence and words.

The Secret Life of Words

Hanna Amiran, p lease come to the main office.

Hanna Amiran, right?

Yes.
- And you've been with us for four years?

Yes, that's right.

We're happy with you.

You don't have to worry,
as far as the company is concerned.

Very satisfied, l can assure you.
- Good.

The problem here is the others.

Your colleagues, your workmates,
the people you work with.

There's been ...

complaints, reports ...



The trade union committee, you know.

No, l don't.

Am l being fired?

Should l go now?
- Hanna,

l have just told you,
we are happy with you.

How could l sack you?

ln your four years with us, you've never
taken a holiday, never been sick or late.

How can l possible give you the sack?

Take a month holiday, for Christ's sake.

A whole month?

Yeah, l've got some brochures, here.

Just in case l decide to go myself,
one of these days.

You know, there's some beautiful,
heavenly places to go in the world.

Places that ...

Places with palm trees,
and lounges on the beach.

And waiters serving pina colada,
and that drink with the smoke in it.

And aerobics in the pool.

Here, look.

Take the ones you want.
l'll get more.

l've got plenty more.

What's the matter, don't you like palm trees?

Palm trees are okay, but ...
- But what?

Do they ...

Do they make you do aerobics in the pool?

What happens if you don't want to?

She has never seen my face,

but l'm her only company.

She sees me dressed
in red corduroy dungarees.

A light blue polo jersey.

The dungarees are always red.
The jersey's always blue.

Why?
She doesn't know why.

The hair is never the same.

Sometimes shoulder length,
and sometimes this way ...

Let me tell you,
a horrible pudding bowl cut.

l like cold milk.

When it's hot, makes me feel sick.

lnge speaking.

Hello?

Hello?

ls that you, Hanna?

We l l, if there,s no heavy breathing
or groaning, l, l l know it,s you.

Did you answer my last letter?

Do you ever read them?
l wouldn't ask you to answer them.

Oh, Hanna. Hanna ...

She told me stories tonight.
They were a bit scary.

And then, she lied down by my side
until l closed my eyes.

She's stroking my hair.

lt's too long.
l'll have to get it cut soon.

Sure, Claude Van Damme,s got more muscle,
but Vin Diesel,s a better actor.

There's not much difference
as far as muscle's concerned.

But there's no doubt about it,
Vin Diesel acts better.

Want a biscuit?

l didn't bring any chocolate ones,
because l know you're not a chocolate person.

Oh ...
- lt's nice to get out of there ...

Stretch your legs ...

Okay.

Look, we're not talking about over night,
are we?

Let me do things right, for once?
Or is this an emergency?

Tell me we're talking about a real emergency.

Yeah. Could l have a little more
sweet and sour sauce, and some hot sauce?

Sorry, just trying to eat, as if you didn't
know. lt's my lunch hour.

l know you're sorry about it.

Where do l find a nurse
to look after him till we get him off?

Or a male nurse
who wants to spend a few days ...

l'll call you. l'll call.
Okay, bye.

l'm a nurse.

Sorry about the mess.
There's 3 of them, you know what it's like.

There's nothing else on the seat, is there?

You're luck the youngest wasn't sick today.
Smell takes ages to go away.

lt's awful. l mean, even if
it's your own kids, it's awful.

This'll only take a few weeks at the most,
until he's well enough for us to get him off.

After the death taking place
the company can't run any more risks.

l'm not speaking too fast, am l?
- No, l understand you.

The problem is the noise.

Boom, boom, the noise of the pumping.
There are places where you hardly notice it.

lt's no where to go on holiday, although ...
When the oil runs out, and it will soon,

our grandkids will
be using propane or chow shit, you'll see.

And when it runs out you'll see them turn
these places into hotels and theme parks.

l'm gonna stop off at the chemist
and get what Dr. Sulitzer wants.

Here's the list. Do you want to see it?
- lf the doctor said this, it'll be fine.

Of course.

There's levels, isn't there?

lf it comes from higher up ...

lt's a power pyramid, isn't it, eh?

Where is it going?
Does it really matter?

Do you think she really minds
floating above 50,000 tons of steel,

which are hit by 28,000 waves every day?

Sometimes more?

ls that all?

Killing time before time kills you.

ls that all?

Waves and more waves.
Never two the same.

This is Hanna, the nurse who's
looking after the casualty. What's his name?

Josef. The doctor's with him.
You'll find the way? Down there.

We've got to load the ...
- Should l take your stuff?

Okay?
- Come this way.

You alright, there?
Martin! Martin!

Martin, Martin!
Give us a hand, mate.

l don't know if it's further up.
l'm usually in the refinery, you know.

Only been here 4 or 5 times.

Make sure they give you the grand tour,
otherwise you'll keep getting lost.

l'll ask Dimitri,
he's the man in charge here.

You don't smoke, do you?
l forgot to tell you there's no smoking here.

Or you can imagine why.
- No.

Good. l'm trying to give up, myself.

Hello. You must be the nurse
that Victor managed to find.

Hanna Amiran.

Have you ever taken care of burns before?

That's what Victor said.
- Yes, l was in the burn recovery unit.

Oh, good. Good. Well, actually,
he has fractures too, to an arm and a leg.

There are burns to his body and face and ...

There's some damage to his corneas.

He won't be able to see anything
for the next two weeks.

Maybe less, but by then,
he'll be out of here.

You better come this way.

lt was Josef's room, in fact.
lt's the nearest one to the sickbay.

Sorry,
l haven't had a chance to clear up yet.

The man who hired me
said there's a constant sound.

A noise.

Well, we're almost shut down.

Since the accident the rig's ...
Well, it's shutting down since the accident.

We're just waiting to find out
what'll happen to ...

To all of us.
You know, the company.

Shall we?

l've just given him a painkiller.

The facial injuries
have been giving him some trouble.

Like l said, he'll be blind for a while.

Shall l put some of this in the fridge?
- Yeah, sure. Go ahead.

Actually, put it all in there.

lt,s because of the damp.
lt,s unbelievably damp here.

So, you worked at a hospital in this country?
- No.

ls it that important? Fracture is fracture,
burn is burn. Here and everywhere.

l take care of the temperature chart,
give painkillers, help him urinate, clean him.

l,ve done it before with people
who were much worse than he is.

lf he gets really bad,
then l call you, l suppose.

Yes, of course. Forgive me.

Yes, you can call me from Dimitri's office.

l ... You know, my wife's a foreigner, too.
She's Columbian.

l mean ... l'm not prejudiced.

l wouldn't like you to think l'm prejudiced.
l'm not that kind of person.

Maybe you are not ...

But l am.

you have 1 new message.

Josef, Hi. Here l am.

l,m reading ''Letters of a Portuguese Nun,,,
again, l know, it,s si l ly.

But, reading that book,
l fee l like l,m ta lking to you.

Like l,m c lose to you, and if l,m c lose to
you l don,t fee l gui lty anymore.

l dream of you every night. Maybe because l
go to bed listening to the message you left,

saying how much you liked missing me.

Josef, l love you.
Like that Portuguese nun, even more.

Much more. Come on, ca l l me.

Ca l l me, l know, it's not easy ...
But, but ...

Ca l l me, my love, p lease?
Okay. l love you so much.

o much. Bye-bye. Bye.

Sulitzer?

Sulitzer, l need a drink
and l got to piss like a racehorse.

The doctor has gone.

l'm the nurse.

Nurse?
Am l ...

Where am l?
Did they take me somewhere?

No, we're still here. On the oil rig.

They brought you here to look after me?

Fuck, man. They must be really worried.

l'll get the bedpan.

Your name wouldn't be Cora,
by any chance, would it?

No.

What's your name?

Now you,re holding my dick
and l,m pissing in front of you.

We could call each other by our first names.
Maybe even ...

Start a new life together.
Get married, have kids.

Where are you from?

Are you married?

Got a boyfriend?

Girlfriend?

Are you a day person
or a night person?

Do you prefer circumcised men, or do you
think it really doesn't matter anyway?

The last drop, as my mother used to say.

You don't have to answer
about being married, that was rude.

But the one about circumcised men?

l'm not leaving here
until you give me an answer.

Lift up your arm.

l like your accent.
ls it Swedish, or Russian?

That hurt. Oh, fuck.
- l'll get you a painkiller in a few hours.

Are you hungry?

Are you blond?
l bet you're a blond.

You got a blonde's voice.

Like butter, and cinnamon.

Like those Danish cookies
they sell in the round, blue, metal tins.

Here's some water.

lt's enough?

Are you sure your name's not Cora?
- l'll change your bandages tomorrow.

My body is itchy all over.

Guess that means l'm still alive.

Yippee.

Lift up your arm, again.

l'll go and fetch your supper,
and later l'll give you another painkiller.

Aren't you even gonna tell me your name?

Cora.

You can call me Cora.

And l'm a redhead.

Hi.

l've come to ...
- You like ltalian food?

l hope so, because that's what's on tonight.

Sorry, l'm Simon, the cook,
you must be Hanna,

Victor told me, how's Josef?
- He's...

Okay, Simon, Hanna, Victor, Josef.
l said four names in one sentence.

Considering his condition, he's alright.
l've come for his supper.

Yeah, gnocchi ''diavola,, and beef.

With basil leaves and pink pepper.

Where you from?
l could cook you something from your country.

lf you want.

Don't bother yourself.
- lt's no bother.

lt's what l do to stop going up the wall.

You know,
l cook something different, everyday.

l put on music
from the same place the recipe's from.

l've got to do something.
This place is a completely ...

How could l explain?
A real bore. Let's see ...

Shall l put the ice cream
on the tray, as well?

lt,s not real mascarpone, it,s Philly spread
with a dollop of fresh cream.

l think it'll be just right.

Will you come back after supper?
There's plenty of food.

lf you want l can fix up the gnocchi ...
- lt depends on how Josef feels.

Yeah, of course, of course.
Or l could bring your tray to your room.

Open.

lt's good.

What kind of pasta is it?
- l don't know. Open.

He said it was something like nokkies.

Simon's a good cook. l don't know why
he's wasting his time here for.

What's for dessert?

Don't you want some more?
There's beef, later.

ls it ice cream?
l love ice cream.

Yes. Cheese ice, he said, l think.
- Mascarpone, my favorite.

What kind of food do you like, Cora?

Open.

l like chicken.

Hallelujah, that,s the first piece of
information you,ve given me.

Aside from being a redhead,
which l don,t believe.

Go on. l'm excited now.
Chicken, what else?

Rice.

White rice, and apples.

Yeah, go on.

Nothing else.

Nothing else?

That's all you eat? Come on, now.

Don't you like chocolate?

Don,t you have a weakness
for coconut Bounty bars?

Sunflower seeds?

Honey roasted peanuts?

Häagen Dazs ginger and lychee ice cream?

Come on, Cora. What about spinach lasagna?

Come on. Lamb curry with currants and dates?
Jesus, what,s wrong with you, Cora?

What kind of rock you been hiding under?
- Want more ...

No. Just give me the fucking painkiller.

Chicken, white rice and apples.

You didn't come for dinner, last night.

l wasn't hungry.

Simon wanted to bring you a tray,
but l told him you ...

looked like someone
who wants to be left alone.

Thanks.

lt's alright.

l like to be left alone, too.

Suppose that's why l'm here.

Like the rest.

The goose is called Lisa.

The man who died in the fire
brought her on board.

Where can l wash my clothes?

Here is the washing powder.

Yeah, and here is the softener.

Ask Simon for anything else.

How many people work here?
- Now?

Simon and Abdul,
he's in charge of the cleaning. And ...

Scott, Liam, in the engine room.

Josef, you ... and me.

The guy that plays basketball?
- Martin?

He's an oceanographer,
he's been here a couple of months, now.

Measuring the number of waves that his us,
every day.

The strength of the sea.

And is the number of waves important?
- l don't know.

l'm not quite sure who he works for,
but it matters to him, certainly.

But ...

He doesn't speak too much to us.

Another one who wants to be left alone.

There are quite a few of us.

God makes them.

Cora?
Are you a nun?

You're a nun, aren't you?

That explains everything.

You are Cora,
Little Sister of the Chicken and the Rice.

Cora, Little Sister of the Helpless.

Blessed are the chapped ...
are the bed...

What kind of redhead are you?

L'Oreal?

Henna?

For real, with red hair down below it all?

No, you,re not a nun. A nun would talk to me.

With their kind natures, and airs of being
above everything they know nothing about.

l'm in your sexy latex hands, Cora.

And ...

Your smell.

You don,t like Eau de Colognes,
you don,t use 'em.

l don't like perfumes either.
Fuckin' perfume. Fuck perfume.

You ... You have a clean smell.

Like a ...
Like a sweet almond soap.

Maybe that's why l mistook you for a nun.

Why do you call me Cora?
- Oh ...

Oh, you don't give out a bit of information,
and ...

Not one bit, just absurd lies.
Chicken, rice, apples.

Now you want me to tell all my secrets?
No, sorry. Don't work that way.

Now, you tell me ...

some information about yourself,
and l will tell you about Cora.

l'm deaf.

l wear a hearing aid. When l don't want
to listen to something, l turn it off.

And l can hardly hear anything.

Were you born that way?

No.

Can l ask you how it happened?
- No, you can't.

There's this story l read a while ago.

There is this very young,
very pretty nurse, named Cora.

And there is this 15 year-old boy ...

who had to have his appendix taken out.

And he was very ashamed
that she had to bathe him, and ...

shave him and bedpan him ...

Anytime she's in the room he can't talk.

She didn't take him seriously, thinks he's a
child. Treats him like a baby.

Eventually there's complications.
lnfection, high temperature ...

Then the boy ...

gets very weak and ...

He's dieing and Cora ...

sits next to his bed,

talking to him and singing to him,
and hell ...

He's dying and she comes up,
real close to him and she says,

''Don't leave me,
don't leave me, don't leave me.''

''Don't leave.''

And the boy dies.

With her name, Cora, on his lips.

And she realizes that she loves him.

What's that?

A wave measuring device.

Do you know how many waves
the rig has weathered since it was built?

5 million?

Not bad. 25.

See, and without a machine.

Just guessing.

lt also measures the water temperature.

Since they stopped drilling,
it's fallen 10 degrees.

Whole colonies of mussels
stuck to the rig legs, have been lost.

Tropical mussels brought by some current
that l haven,t been able to identify. Look.

lf we didn't know how many waves this thing
could weather we couldn't keep it standing.

Do you think it would be much of a loss?

Simon, for God's sake, what is this shit?

Seems like
we're eating fucking shaving cream.

Liam, do you think this is real food?
What the bloody hell is it?

l hate cheese.

How many times do l got to tell you?

We're going to turn into fucking mice.
- l think it needs a pinch of nutmeg.

Very little nutmeg, Simon.
You always had a problem with that.

Heads up.

Do us some burgers with fried onions.

ls that so difficult?

You peel and onion and fry it.
You do the same with the burger.

Then you put Deep Purple on,
and it's that easy.

Or chops. Or a fucking steak!

l'm heartbroken, but l'm out of Deep Purple.
- What about the Kinks?

Anything like that.
- Def Leopard.

Def Leopard?
They're a band.

Stick you your cockles
in your mussels, Martin.

Something you can sing along to.
- Bleeding salads ...

l think it's the best thing l've ever eaten,
in my whole life.

Can you do this everyday?
- Yes, if you want.

Cause you know,
it's important to keep up appearances.

You never know who might show up here.

Queen of England.
Santa Claus.

l've got a headache.
- That's because of the fever.

Your temperature has gone up, today.

You're the one who sends it up.
Sorry.

l'll shut up. l'm not going
to bother you with my foolishness, today.

No? That's a pity.
Just when l was beginning to enjoy myself.

l imagine that you are 15 years old.

l'm exactly 3 times 15.
And you?

l dreamed about you,
a couple of times.

Don't worry. ln no way erotic.
- That's a shame.

Don't make me laugh, hurts too much.
What do you dream about, Cora?

You know, in Japan they've
invented this kind of a ...

cybernetic pillow that you can
use to program your dreams.

You tell the machine what you want to dream.

Say ... what ever you like.
Say, l want to dream of a ...

Sean Connery in Highland dress and ...

l want it to be at the North Pole,
so l can hide under his kilt.

And ... whatever, something like that,
and it works.

And that night you dream you're
at the North Pole under Sean Connery's kilt.

What would you dream about, Cora?

Me?

Not wearing a kilt.

Not wearing anything at all.

Tropical island.

ln a huge hammock.

And there's room for both of us.
Are you listening?

Yes.

Our bodies cuddled up close to one another.

Sweat mixing.

Where nothing else matters.

Just you and me, Cora.

Just you and ...

Are you looking at me, Cora.
- No.

Are you sure?

l think you were.

You're starting to lie to me, now.

Means you like me a little bit.

l,m reading ''Letters of a Portuguese Nun,,,
again, l know, it,s si l ly.

Reading that book,
l fee l like l,m ta lking to you.

May l?

Well, Ducasse in person.

Wow!

What? Do l look that good?

Better than ever.
lt's an improvement.

You remind me of Coyote after
a ton of anvils have fallen on top of him.

Really, you are somewhere
between Coyote and Mr. Magoo.

You're looking handsome yourself,
now that l'm blind.

Thank you.

What have you brought me?
- Open your mouth.

Ah, ha, here we go.

Okay.

Have l ever told you that l love you?
- Yeah, but l know it's just for the sex.

Come on, another.

Did she ask you to come?
- Who?

Simon.
- No, l wanted to.

She didn't say anything to you?
- You know, she doesn't talk much.

What she like?

ls she a looker?
- Go to hell.

Sensitive!
You like her.

You like her, don't you?

l,m thinking of
devoting a day to Ethiopian cooking.

Dried meat and overcooked ...
- What are you talking about?

Shut up.

You're changing the subject.

lt's okay ...
- Josef, really, you are boring me.

Do you want some more?
- lt's okay that you like her.

You've been here for a month.

l'm sure she doesn't have
a husband or a boyfriend. lt's cool.

Of course. A woman who's free,
without any ties, wouldn't interest you.

Get the fuck out of here.

l have fruit salad or ...

Just go.
Get out of here.

Hey, Hanna, Hanna.

Want to see a picture of my family?
- Alright.

That's my wife Shirley. Tom.

Anna, and Amy.

She'll be 2 next month.

She's very pretty.

Kids are great, don't you think?

Yes.

Scott, he's got two daughters.
- Two?

Life is strange.

Yes.

Yes, a lot.

l love you ...
- Josef, l love you.

Like that Portuguese nun, even more.

Much more. Come on, ca l l me.

Ca l l me, l know, it's not easy ...

lt's alright, l'm not sleeping.

l've been waiting for you.

Martin showed me ...

l don't want to hear
about anything from the outside.

You tell me something then ...
about yourself.

Can you keep a secret?
- Yes.

Are you sure you can keep a secret?
- Yes.

Alright.

l'll tell you but lean in close.
l've got to whisper it in your ear.

One.

Lean in closer so l can tell you.

Closer.

Are you connected?
- Yes.

l can't swim.

Ow.

lt,s pretty ridiculous, isn,t it?

Alright, that's enough.
lt's not that funny.

lt's just that ... with ...

With ... working here it seems a bit strange.
- What ... ow.

People aren't lining up
to jump off the diving board of the oil rig.

lt's not an aquatic park, yet.

Never was good in the water.

There was this television series
when l was a kid.

You probably haven't heard of it,
it's about a submarine.

lt was called
''Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,,.

And there was always these ...

There was this great noise
that the submarine made. lt went ...

l can,t do it. lt was something like ...

l was fascinated with this series, l ...

l had nightmares that
there were sea monsters coming after me.

One summer my parents decided,
''We,re going to do a beach holiday,,.

Everything was alright, for a while.

l made sure my parents didn,t realize
l wasn,t going anywhere near that water.

lt terrified me.
l couldn,t even go down to the water,s edge.

l couldn't even put my toe in,
because l was convinced ...

that these monsters were there,
waiting for me.

l was just busy building sand castles.

So, one day ...

my dad decides to rent a paddle-boat, and ...

he got really angry, because
l wasn,t going to go on the paddle-boat,

because l was very busy with my sand castes.

He got furious and
he scooped me up and forced me on it.

And then he started to peddle furiously.

With this kind of uncontrollable rage.

l was trembling, l was sobbing,
and he was saying,

''Spent 5 bucks on this. We're gonna have
a good time if it's the last thing we do!''

Before you know it,
we were pretty far away from the shore.

He stops pedaling, and ...

he stands up and he says something like ...

l,ve no idea what he said.

Picks me up ...

and he throws me in the water.

l start sinking to the bottom.

l keep going deeper,
and deeper, and deeper down.

And there, l swear, Cora.

There's this big,
black, gelatinous ... something.

lt had these big bulging eyes, and ...

tentacles.

And it saw me.

And it started coming after me.

And that was the last thing l remember.

l woke up in a hospital bed ...

You know what?

My father ...

When he ... when he threw me in the water.

He didn't know how to swim either.

Dr. Sulitzer?
Yes ...

Well, we don't have that much to do, so ...
No, it's fine. lt's okay. Just waiting.

Hanna, the nurse here,
she wants to have a word with you.

Okay.

Hello.

Yes, no ... He's stable but he's ...

The problem is,
he isn't getting any better, so ...

He still is running a high fever.
lt comes in waves, morning, mid-afternoon.

l think he should be taken off the oil rig.

No, immediately.

The day after tomorrow?

You'll speak to ...

Okay. Good bye.

l think Sulitzer is looking for another job.

Aren't you?

The company can move me to another rig.
Maybe in ...

Chile, or Cuba.
Who knows?

Meanwhile, l stay here.
As long as they want.

l get edgy on dry land. l get ...

Dizzy.
- The accident?

How did it happen?
- You really want to know that?

They were drilling in ground that's like ...

Cheese with holes ... Swiss cheese.

There are pockets of gas, down there.

And we hit one.
lt's not the first time it's happened.

Could it have been avoided?
- No. No.

Yes, maybe, if we'd
stopped drilling a long time ago. But ...

What happened to the man who died,
was no accident.

That man wanted to kill himself.
He threw himself into the flames.

Sorry.

So ... and ...

Josef, he tried to save him, but ...

lt all happened so quickly.

We all saw how he threw himself into the ...
into the blaze.

We haven't told the company everything.
We let them believe it was an accident.

That man left a wife and 2 kids.

So, what's the point in telling the truth?

Let them believe it was an accident.
That means some money for his family.

And ...

Deep down ...

everything is an accident.

He never speaks about him.
- Doesn't he?

Well ...

Hanna?
- Yes.

What?
- Nothing.

Yes?

Nothin'.
- What?

No, nothin'.

Oh, come on.

Nothing.
- Simon?

What?

Nothing.

No, what?

What?

Hanna?

Hanna?
- Yes.

Look at this!

Remember that you're not 15 years old.

Bodalo.
- What?

What do you think l just said?

ldiot? Dickhead? A little of both?

More or less, yes.

Which language?
- What difference does it make?

Here we go. Aren't you getting tired of
playing the mystery woman act with me?

Do you want more soup?

Come on, l've told you my little miseries.

Tell me something.
No, l'm full up on soup.

Did you like ''Letters of a Portuguese Nun''?

l thought you didn't like books,
just chicken and rice.

l used to read.

Yeah, well.
l don't remember it all that well.

Read it ages ago.
lt's a short book.

l only read short books.
Don't have patience for long ones.

Gave that book as a present to someone, once.

A woman.

l know l shouldn't have, but l did.
- Why?

Because it was another man's wife.

A man who loved her,

and whom she loved.

And who even l loved.

There's certain things one should never do.

Like what?

One should never ...

give a book as a present to someone
who spends too much time alone.

One should never fall in love
with one's best friend's wife.

Above all,
one should never tell one's best friend.

lt's terrible to tempt compassion.
lt's the last thing l want to arouse in you.

Cora?
- Yes.

How does one live with what has happened?

The consequences.

How does one live with the dead?

l don't know.
You'll have to go on, l suppose.

Everyone keeps on living for the future,
some how.

Or not.

There are those who don't make it through.

A helicopter is coming to fetch you.
Tomorrow, or the day after.

Are you coming with me? Are you?

You gonna hold my hand?
Help me look at myself again?

l've lost at love before

Got mad and c losed the door

But you said try just once more

l chose you for the one

Now we're having so much fun

you treated me so kind

l'm about to lose my mind

you make me so very happy

l'm so g lad you came into my life

The others were untrue

But when it came to lovin'you

l'd spend my who le life with you

Cause you came and you took contro l

you touched my very sou l

you a/ways showed me that

Loving you is where it's at

you make me so very happy

l'm so g lad you came into my life

Don't you like the show?

l've seen it before.

Who do you work for, Martin?

The company.

And the company pays you
to check on the mussels?

The company pays me to measure
the wave impact strength, l told you.

The mussels are my business.

Sometimes l forget that we're out at sea.
- No, we aren't in limbo.

We're up to our necks in water.

Do you know what the problem is?

The people think it's the oil.

But it's not true.
lt's the water that we bring out with it.

For millions of years it rubbed shoulders
with the oil, stuck at the bottom of the sea.

You see, when we crack the water from the oil
and return it to the sea, it's shitty water.

lt corrupts everything it touches. You know
what's happened to the fish that live here?

Contact with this water
has altered their hormones.

lt's delayed spawning. Colder currents
sweep the eggs away before they can hatch.

They're shutting down, anyway.
- Not if l can help it.

What will you do?

This could be used for lots of things.

Use the drilling motors to purge the water.
lt's possible to cleanse the water.

What will happen
if nobody takes any notice of you?

Well, l'll keep on measuring waves.

Collecting mussels.

And l'll keep thinking
that something can be done.

l envy you, Martin.

Really, l ... l didn't know
there were still people like you about.

l wish you luck.

How did you pass the night?
- The night?

l don't know.
Lousy, l guess.

What time is it?
- 12. Are you hungry?

No.

When l was studying in Dubrovnik,

l always dreaded
when we had to clean the patients.

l felt ...

l felt uncomfortable.

Just thinking that they were uncomfortable.

But ...

l soon realized that ...
people like being clean.

No matter how you do it, or ...

or who does it.
They like being in your hands.

They like trusting you with their bodies.

As if they were saying, ''lt's only a body.''

''lt's only a body.
You'll never know what l am thinking,

or who l am.''

l had a ...

l had a friend who studied with me.

We got on very well.

She was ...
She was so cheerful.

l've never been cheerful.

l was so proud to be her friend.

We used to read all the same books
and stay up, late into the night,

just talking about them.
The books were always more real than ...

More real than anything else.

We lived together during the war, and ...

We were 20 years old
when they closed the school.

And we decided to go back to the town
where we were both from.

We couldn't get in touch with our families.
They said terrible things were happening.

But you know, nobody really believed them.
l mean ...

People always exaggerate.
lt couldn't be true, l mean, war ...

Somehow it always happens somewhere else.

So we borrowed a car, she could drive,
and we ...

We set off.

Nothing happened on the journey.
We saw ...

We saw fires far off, and ... dead dogs.

Nothing.

Lots of dead dogs.

We listened to this
cassette of ltalian disco music.

And we laughed.

We laughed so much on that journey.

Do you remember, there was this song called,
La Do lce Vita?

lt was so stupid. lt was ...

We're livin' like a Do lce Vita

This time we got it right

We're livin' like a Do lce Vita

Got a dream ...

They stopped us just
2 kilometers from the town.

They took us to a hotel.

We thought they just wanted to steal the car.

We were very worried about
how we would explain this to the owner.

lt's ridiculous, isn't it?

Your whole life is about to ...

change ...

And you are worrying about an old Fiat Turbo.

The soldiers were our soldiers.

They were soldiers, they spoke like me,
they spoke my own language.

Some of them were only 18 years old.

l remember, one day,
UN troops were brought in, and ...

We thought that day
that they were going to take us out of there.

No.

Voices like yours, Josef.

Talking like you.

l remember that one of them ...

apologized all the time.
He would apologize ...

while smiling.

lf you can imagine that they ...

rape you, time and again, and whisper
in your ears, so only you can hear ...

l'm sorry, l'm so sorry.

Forgive me.

There were 15 of us women.

Sometimes more. We knew that when
the food ran out, they'd kill some of us.

They made a woman kill her daughter.

They put a gun in her hand
and her finger on the trigger.

They put the barrel of the gun in the girl's
vagina. They made her pull that trigger.

Saying something like,
now you're not going to be a grandmother.

Something like that.

So, the woman died soon after, of sorrow.

One day dawned and she had died of sorrow.

Know what they did
to the ones who dared to scream?

They said ...

''Now we are really going to
give you reasons for screaming.''

And they made hundreds of cuts
all over their bodies, with a knife.

And they rubbed salt in the wounds and
sewed up deeper cuts with sewing needles.

That's what they did to my friend.

And l couldn't ...

They wouldn't let me clean her wounds, so ...

She slowly bled to death.

lt was just so ...
lt was so slowly.

And the blood ran down her arms,
and her legs.

l just prayed that she would die quickly.

l counted the screams.

The moans, l measured ...
l measured the pain.

And l thought ...
''She can't suffer anymore.''

''Now she'll die.''

''Now. Please.''

''The very next minute, please.''

What was her name?

Your friend.

What was her name?

Hanna.

Hanna?

Hanna!

Hanna!

Hanna!

Josef.

Your bag.
- That's not mine.

lt's yours.

Would you come with me?

Did you have a good trip? Do sit down.
- Yes, thank you.

ls this your first time in Copenhagen?
- Yes, it's quite nice.

lt's lovely.

What do you need from me?

Well, l've been thinking about what
l would say to you this entire journey.

l'm not quite sure.

As l told you on the phone,
l met Hanna when she was my nurse.

l never really ... got to see her.

Do you want a photo of her,
see if she's as beautiful as her voice?

No.
- No.

You wouldn't have come
all this way just for a photograph.

l was Hanna's councilor for 2 years.

Since then l receive
a phone call, from time to time.

She doesn't speak, she doesn't say anything,
but l know it's her, l know she's alive.

Why doesn't she say anything?
- That's between Hanna and me.

She ... she told me something.

About what happened ... in the hotel.

She must have trusted you.
- But l know ...

l know, don't ask me how or why,
but l know ...

There's something she didn't tell me.
And many things ..

she didn't tell me, and l want to know.

And you want me to tell you.
Haven't you had your ration of horror?

What do you want?

What do you really want? Didn't you read
the newspaper during those 10 years of war?

What? l don't know.

l think l want ...

to spend the rest of my life with her.

Oh, the rest of your life.

How romantic.

The rest of your life with a refugee
from a war that everybody has forgotten?

With a woman you've never even seen?

With a woman that you
only know has suffered things ...

neither your nor l could bear?

Have you ever thought that what Hanna needs,
most of all, is to be left alone?

Yeah. Yeah, l've thought about that.

But ... l know she needs me.

And l need her.

l know it.

Come with me.

This is Hanna Amiran.

Here is everything you want to know.

But, even if you
really feel the way you say you do,

does that give you
the right to see this tape?

Without her consent?

Do you know how many Hannas there are here?

Do you know how much blood?
How many deaths?

Do you know how much hatred these tapes hold?

Do you know why we record them?
- No, why?

Before the Holocaust, Adolph Hitler
called his collaborators together,

and in order to convince them
that he could get away with his plan,

he asked them, ''Who remembers
the extermination of the Armenians?''

That's what he said.

30 years later,

nobody remembered the million Armenians
exterminated in the cruelest possible way.

10 years later ...

Who remembers what happened in the Balkans?

The survivors.

Those who managed,
by some twist of fate, to tell it.

lf they can.

Those who are ashamed ...

of having survived.

Like Hanna.

That's the irony of it,
if you can call it that.

The shame they feel
for having managed to survive.

And that shame,

which is greater than the pain,
which is bigger than anything else,

can last forever.

l believe l have a photograph of Hanna,
somewhere.

Hanna.

Hanna.

l knew you were blond.

l came to bring you your backpack.

Thanks.

You have done it, now you can go.

l ... l took a bar of soap.
Hope you don't mind.

No, l have lots.

lt's a nice scar that you've got.

Yeah, well, they said it won't look so bad,
after a while.

They also told me that the nurse
that took care of me did a real good job.

Good.

They shut down the rig.

Where is everyone going?
- They offered us work in Chile.

Simon is going to go back
and try the restaurant business.

Chile.
- l haven't decided what to do.

Still thinking about it.

Good.

l thought ... you and l ...

Maybe we could go away somewhere, together.

One of these days. Today.

Right now.

Come with me, Hanna.

No, l ...

l don't think that's going to be possible.
- Why not?

Because l think that if we go away,
to someplace together ...

l am afraid that, one day ...

Maybe not today ...

Maybe not tomorrow either,
but one day, suddenly ...

l may begin to cry and cry so much
that nothing and nobody can stop me.

And the tears will fill the room,
l won,t be able to breathe,

and l will pull you down with me,
and we,ll both drown.

l'll learn how to swim.

l swear.

l'll learn how to swim.

l left a long time ago.

Only sometimes, in these Sunday mornings,
when he's buying the papers and the bread.

And she hears her children shouting from the
house next door, where they've gone to play.

Yes, yes she has 2 children now.

My brothers.

These cool and sunny winter mornings
when she has the house to herself.

And she feels strange and fragile and empty.

And for a moment
she doesn't know it all has been a dream.

Then l come back to her
and she cuddles me and strokes my hair.

And nothing, nothing at all what happened
will ever come between us.

But l can hear the children coming back.
l go away.

l'm far away, now.

Perhaps, l'll never come back.

ubtit les
Media Factory Ber lin

upervision
Annie Grossjohann