Unter dem Pflaster ist der Strand (1975) - full transcript

Berlin, 1974. Grischa and Heinrich are actors, accidentally locked in the rehearsal hall one night. He tries to seduce her; she's puts him off. Later she dumps her husband and sleeps with Heinrich, who ups the ante by suggesting they have a child. She takes him seriously by initiating a journalistic project interviewing working mothers, asking how they balance work and family, delving into their sexual histories. Heinrich sulks when she spends evenings on the project, he's childish. Should she leave him? The story plays out against the backdrop of left-wing political agitation.

UNDER THE PAVEMENT
LIES THE STRAND

These actresses act out...

the rule of women,

as it was thousands
of years ago,

and its abolition ordained by men.

These women
you have brought here,

I will sell the lot as slaves,

as soon as I have put an end...

to the beating of the drums.

Or set them working on the loom.

OK, that'll do.



Five minute break.

As the TV recording
is during the day,

they have time in the evening...

to think over their roles
as women.

Grischa, for instance,
was in a film yesterday...

about abortion,
with a discussion afterwards.

There are possibilities.

We're not living in
an entirely totalitarian system.

As far as women's matters
are concerned, you are way out.

There are 32 million women
in Western Germany,

that is, more than half
the population.

But hardly a thing is done
about women's problems.

As a journalist,
I know it's very hard...

trying to get articles on women's
matters accepted.



There's never enough room
for such material.

Women are not going to take
this lying down.

I only wish they would hit back.

The men here in Berlin
often complain...

that we shut them out.

It's about time...

men started talking
about their problems,

about their sexual
difficulties and fears...

and not expect us...

to emancipate them
along with ourselves.

That's the role
we always had to play,

saviours in distress.

I quite agree with you.

If women start thinking
about themselves, men get upset.

This desperate struggle for
what is taken for granted by men,

and which often seems
in vain because it looks...

as if most women...

were satisfied
with their private happiness..

and keep on supporting men...

in their wars and rivalries.

The worst is that
the struggle...

takes place on two fronts:

the private and the public.

Plus the difficulty
of expressing oneself.

What wildness is in Enthuse,

born of earth and sprung...

from the dragon's side.

Daughter of the river of rivers.

Achinco's source, Dirka.

Once you receive into your waves...

the newborn son
of Zeus, Dionysius.

The father of bliss,

benefactor of mortals,

of whom it is said...

he makes fertile
the steed-rich land...

with plentiful waters.

Where are the others?

Gone already?

What are you sitting around for?

I don't know.

Don't feel like going home?

Your husband's at home, isn't he?

Had a row?

What's that got to do with it?

What's wrong, Grischa?

I'd like to see an end...

of the separation
of private life and job.

What I do on the stage
is what I need, you see.

What I say comes
from deep within me,

and, of course, it comes out
stronger on stage.

Then, suddenly someone says:

Thank you, you can go home.

But you have
no ties with home,

having lived here
for fourteen hours.

Of course, no one's interested.
You understand?

I understand that,
but nevertheless...

we have to change it.

I must do something where
I can always be at work.

I sometimes think...

that we learn when we...

act like that, the way
our consciousness changes.

Then we think the world
could change and improve..

much better than it can.

Then we expect big things,

and it's all saved up
for a couple of hours...

per evening, then nothing.

Of course,
this is the dream, a pipe dream.

We want to walk on air.

I mean,
you have to find a job...

that you have
to keep working on.

-Isn't that asking too much?
-Why?

There are limits
in our society to jobs...

that remain
continually demanding.

There's bosses and money,
time and space,

people plank down their 12 marks...

for two hours at a play.

And that's as far as it goes
for most people.

I'd like a job...

that I could get
my teeth into too,

where I am not just disposable.

-You probably won't find it.
-Yes, you just have to try.

Castles in the air.

No, Heini.

Why don't
you go home?

Why don't you?

Why not?

I practically never go home.

I leave here and usually
go boozing pretty hard.

Lay off boozing. It doesn't pay.

I wouldn't know
what to do at home.

It's all so empty.

The few happy days
we spent together...

seem to ooze from the walls...

and it hurts.

It tears at your guts.

On the surface I have everything,
a phone,

radio, books, the dogs,

but I don't know
what to do there.

In the evening,
I like sitting in the pub,

all alone in the corner,

watching people
and hitting the bottle...

till I sometimes keel over.

I don't think it's always that way.

Hey, I think
they've locked us in.

What do you mean?

They must all have gone.
I'll have a look.

They wouldn't just
leave us like that.

Well, that's a lark.

You can't be serious.

It's shut.

They can't do this.

It's crazy.

And the window?

We could smash it, I suppose.
It's bolted.

I don't like this at all.

Let's go see.

Don't laugh like that!

We're here for the night.

I'll have a look.

You already have.

Shall we bed down here?

There must be a window
we can get out of.

We have the place to ourselves.

We'll simply stay.

-We can sleep.
-A trick!

A what?

Come off it, Grischa.

You know very well.

Aren't you tired?

Be quiet!

Shut up!

Stow it!

Stop it, will you?

Call that funny?

You can't expect me to laugh.

Beat it!

Grischa, come on!

Come on.

I'm a fool, you're a fool,

so let's die the death,
shall we?

Come, come.

Come, lady, come.

Like some beer?

You know,
you look just like my sister.

My sister's dead.

Her name was Gisela.

She died when I was four.
She was fifteen.

She was killed.

She once took me to the Rhine
on her bike.

I sat in front in a basket
and fell asleep.

When I woke up,
she pressed me close to her.

You really look like my sister.

Let's sleep together.

No, I don't want to.

Elease!

Elease.

In Heinrich's mind always
the hope...

that remained unfulfilled
with the many...

because they were too few
and not tenacious enough;

hope of fulfilment
with one person,

taking up the struggle,

with love a revolution for two.

We can cut there.

See you not the fire,

see you not the flame
about Semele's...

sacred grave?

The flame left by him
struck by lightning,

the flame of Zeus' thunder.

Down to earth,

down with trembling bodies,

turning everything over,

striding.

After the war? We weren't
any better off.

At that time we played
in the ruins, too.

I think it was spring of 1969,

the great demonstration
before the courthouse,

the Mahler demonstration.

After that, of course, we thought,

tomorrow we strike,

tomorrow's Revolution Day
in West Berlin.

Eure castles in the air!

We seized the water cannon...

and drowned the pigs with it.

Then they threw
smoke bombs at us,

and the wind was
in our favour,

so they got the smoke
full in their kissers.

Then they let us go our way.

We marched triumphant
to the university...

and made love behind the stage
in the big hall.

We thought, tomorrow's the day,

but nothing happened.

A pity. Nowadays we've crawled
back into our shells,

each one goes
to his pub alone...

You are wrong.

They still get together
like in 68.

True, but in small groups,

I don't like this fragmentation.

I didn't attend
any demos last May 1st.

I sat at home and...

I think that's just what's wrong.

The thing's going on,
and it won't stop.

I have friends
among the thingummies -

the Revisionists
and Communist Earty.

Where can I turn?
I feel pretty isolated, too.

But doing nothing...

We were united in 68, 69.

I remember in 67,
they tried to arrest Rudi...

at the Easter March.

I happened to be around...

when the pigs in plain clothes...

tried to drag him into a car.

That was great.

You lived in utopia so much.

As if revolution could
happen now.

We thought
there was a silver lining.

-You can't give it up now.
-I believed.

But what's to come
of this fragmentation?

You have to tackle the questions
in your mind again,

but more cautiously.

But forget about dreams
of revolution tomorrow.

That's plain stupid,
that's where you go wrong.

Do you have a light?

Basically, you're unhappy...

that things don't jell.

I can understand you
not wanting...

to join a party.

I think it's a pity, too.

But it's no reason
for opting out,

just because you can't
make up your mind...

which left wing party
is right for you.

But how can you
carry on alone?

You have to go, haven't you?

Come on, doggies, food!

George!

Chew on it, Ben.
Don't swallow, you hog!

I had to climb over the boxes.

Did you phone just now?

I'd like to sleep with you.

Not at my place.
I can't stand it.

Mine's no good, either.
I'm busy packing.

Let's try G?nter's place
in Clausewitzstrasse.

I'm coming.

Hi, G?nter! How long is Andreas
going to be away?

Andreas?
Till Saturday or Sunday.

This is Grischa.
This is G?nter.

Want to go in now?

See you later, then.

Come, sit.

I'm afraid I have my period.

Ever heard the story
of Leila and Madschnun?

It's an oriental fairy tale,

known to all oriental peoples.

It's the story of the love
of Leila and Madschnun.

Madschnun, the madman,
doesn't get her,

because the girl's father
has forbidden the marriage...

and has locked the girl up.

Madschnun went crazy
and went off to the wilderness.

He composed
Love poems to his Leila.

This made the love story
known everywhere,

which made her father
more determined to spike it.

One day, an Oriental
king heard of this love...

and wanted to see Madschnun.

His scouts found him in the desert...

and took him to the king.

I have heard a lot about you,
Madschnun, said the king.

I like your poems very much.

But I don't understand why
you are so in love.

I just don't believe it.

So Madschnun recited him
a few love poems.

The king wanted to see leila, too,

and sent for her.

Then he saw she was
an ordinary nomad,

and each of his 360 wives
in his harem was lovelier.

So he told him so.

And Madschnun replied:

If you had my eyes,

you could see her beauty.

He bound thongs...

about his knees,
about his hips.

Snorting with excitement...

Sweat dripping from his every limb.

His teeth biting into his lips...

And I, close by,

sat calmly there and watched.

Finally he desisted from his toil,

thinking I had fled,

and seized a sword,

a black sword.

A sword...

a black sword.

Lovely with you.

I'll give you a baby.

-Do you want a baby?
-No.

-Do you want a baby?
-No.

-Do you want a baby?
-No.

You're invited to tea.

What are you sitting like that for?
Completely stoned.

My, they're in a hurry!

China is a long way.

Not as far as you think.

Now everything
seemed possible to him,

as long as they were together.

Love, and a child
to cement that love,

and a political struggle
for them and the others,

to make love useful.

What are you doing
with the chicken?

It's not a chicken,
it's a rooster.

I'll put the chicken in the kitchen.

-Leave it here.
-Let go.

Excuse me, I have to clear up.

-Shall I help you?
-No.

What will we do now?

Why? What should we do?

What's the next step, Heinrich?

What's the next step, Grischa?

Stop parroting me.
It's like in a nursery school.

Tell me.

But don't step on it.

Shall I take off my shoes?

Why did you say recently
you wanted a child?

Tell me.

Tell me. Seriously. Really.

Well, sometimes I think
I'd like a child.

Why?

Of course,
I'd really like one of my own,

Like Zeus did out of his thigh.

You must be realistic about it.

I'd like a child from you.

What will you do then?

You'd have to devote time.

I have time.

I have no time for a baby.

That would mean cutting back
terribly on one's...

own demands.

What would you do with a child?

Live with it.

Have you any definite idea?

No, it's something new,
a new experience.

Quite different.

I don't believe one can imagine it.

But why a child from me?

Because I'm fond of you.

As Grischa's fear dimmed,
so her confidence..

in the work
she had undertaken grew.

How do you combine your private
Life with your job?

I'm afraid I have no time,
have to get home to the kids.

That's too bad.

So she just started, somewhere,
distrusting any kind of advice.

To break down the barriers
between her...

and the working women,
she began to ask questions.

She wanted to learn from them,
without intermediaries,

and found them surprisingly frank,

though they usually
had no time to spare.

She felt lost outside the factory...

and longed for the protection
of some organization.

On the other hand,
she believed only her own senses...

and wanted to know how far
they would take her.

Do you have children?

Two daughters,
one's still studying...

and the other's
married in Switzerland.

My daughter's a student in Marburg.

Just now I'm on my own.

Do you manage with your
daughter at university?

I've had to do without
Lots of things,

but I don't mind because
she's got brains.

Grischa saw she had a lot to learn,

not only
from these working women,

but from the history
of women's oppression.

Slave, cheap workers,

willing to confront,
even to self-sacrifice,

but also to fight and resist.

She didn't wish to fight
against Heinrich,

but with him,
but at any rate for herself.

Just imagine, you get on so
well living with someone...

that you really ask for very little.

I'd rather have a surprise.

But you have desires which,
if you live with a woman,

do not present themselves,

and so you're unhappy.

What are desires like?

Not concrete.

But what seems to be Iacking
all the time?

I know it's utopian to expect...

everything to run smoothly,

for people to understand each
other without a word,

for the other person to know
when you're sad.

Sometimes it works.

I think it might be
that way with you.

Really? That would be fine.

It's already happened
a few times.

That's why I'm here, aren't I?

Mrs. Berg,
you're a working woman?

I work as a commercial employee.

How do you manage
with the kids?

My husband takes them
to kindergarten.

He's still a student, so he can
do it in the morning.

I have to start work at seven.

He usually fetches them home
at the evening.

So he's doing
the housewife's work?

Have you ever had an abortion?

Yes, twice.
Before I had the kids.

I had a boyfriend
and wanted to marry.

I didn't know
what to do with a baby,

besides which, I was young,
and my parents...

didn't want me hawking
an illegitimate baby around.

If a woman
who works has children,

she does all the looking after.

Does your husband find
housework rather wearing?

He's got to like it or Iump it.

He studies, and I work all day.

So he has to do it,
and he does willingly.

How can you solve conflicts
at your place of work?

I am a shop stewardess,
elected by my workmates.

There's tension among
the women here,

and I try to smooth things out...

by discussing with the women
why things are like that.

I try to establish good relations
especially because...

they're often in conflict with
their husbands.

They work all day and hardly
see their husbands,

and when they get home at night...

there's friction,
because they're both nervous.

I talk these problems
over with them...

and tell them why
it works out that way.

This Iovely story of a love...

that dissolved into a mirage,

convinced me that life
is an illusion,

and that the most wonderful stories,

which dissolve like
bubbles in dirty water,

are only there to instill in us...

revulsion against life.

Only in deliberate collectivity,

in the struggle for socialist aims,

can divorce be no longer the start
of utter Ioneliness...

I never understood what love
of a female soul...

had to do with the crude...

business of reproduction.

Love fools people
to make them procreate.

Shut up, will you!

But of voluntary relations
of solidarity...

Shut up,
I want to read you something.

I was not born for domestic life,

and then it happened.

Did you understand?

To live your life,
you have to hurt other people.

And help women take up work...

outside the home without...

a guilty conscience,
and get men used...

to not seeing women as stupid,
shoddy competitors...

who had better
look after the house.

Stop that noise!

How can you work in this mess?

What's up?

I don't get it.

Did you alter that?

I didn't do a thing.

Have you ever had an abortion?

I want children, all right,
but at this time...

it just wasn't possible.

Yes, it was last year.

I really wanted kids.

I was pregnant,
and so we got married.

Then I had a miscarriage,

and became pregnant again.

That wouldn't work out, job-wise.

Then I had trouble with Eeter,

and I didn't want to have
a baby just then,

because my job was all Ioused up.

It would have been nice,
but I thought...

the child would probably
suffer a lot.

It's all so stupid...

I did think of going back to school,

but I don't know
if it would help much.

I'd probably first
get a school certificate.

But that's a dead end just now.

And after school?

Maybe I'd study.

I can see
I'm interested in subjects...

that not much is
known about yet,

especially concerning women.

That would be very interesting.

In some things
they're only just starting,

but I'd like to do that.

Finding out howfar psychology
takes account of women.

Human beings in psychology
so far are simply men,

and the second chapter
is all about women,

which seems to be the wrong
way around, more or Iess.

I took up Freud for a time.

That's when I became aware of it.

I think what he writes
is really controversial.

He Ieaves women out,
Oedipus complex and so on.

What he writes about women,

you know, about them needing
a vaginal orgasm,

and if they don't,
they're immature...

I know, because I've talked
to a lot to women...

and really got close to them,

I know from experience
that's not true.

What a woman tells me, is,
I believe,

truer than what Dr. Freud says
about women.

AIso, because
I'm a woman myself.

Did you have particular
problems as a child,

because you were a girl?

I couldn't exactly say problems,

but my upbringing
was very much guided...

by my being a woman.

I was taught everything
about housekeeping.

At seven or eight years,
I had to cook and clean.

I'm the eldest of six sisters,

and I have two elder brothers,

who were brought up
quite differently.

My most decisive experience
was sex, I feel.

In our home
it was completely taboo.

No one ever spoke about it.

I grew up in a Catholic village.

I was more or Iess seduced
before I was five...

by a 65-year old man.

I had to keep seeing him,

because I was afraid of him.

I knew it was the greatest sin
you could commit.

That Iasted till I was seven.

It was very hard for me.

It preoccupied me
even as an adult,

and I could never
go to confession,

I knew that confession would
have freed me somehow,

I couldn't, because the priest
was a friend of my parents...

and he'd have told them.

I was terribly afraid someone
would find out.

About that time, you see,
a 14-old girl had sexual relations...

with an older man, and she was
sent to a reformatory,

and he went to jail.
I heard about that.

Then the old man died,
and I was really glad,

but I couldn't afford to show it.

This gave me a curious attitude
to male sexuality.

For me
it represents a strong threat,

and I was really scared of it.

Somehow, you slip
into the role of a victim...

and then you have to make sure...

you try to establish...

satisfactory sexual relations.

Could you talk
to anyone about this?

My husband
was the first person.

I was afraid
people would shun me...

if I told them about it.

You see, what I did is so awful,

though I didn't really
do it myself,

that I never spoke about it.

That is a picture of how I felt...

as a child,
and my attitude to sex,

and all that happened to me.

You know,

I've been taking the pill
for seven years now, and now...

I Iearn from doctors
and friends...

that it can make you sterile.

I think that's pretty awful.
So now I've given it up.

Then I became pregnant again,

which was an
impossible situation for me...

No need to run the water,
Heinrich.

What shall I do, then?

I can't hear.

Stop it.

I have to write this down now.

I can't concentrate.

...because they're afraid
of breaking down.

Because, when the children get back
from kindergarten...

they are nervous,
the parents are nervous, and...

that causes friction.

Then comes the problem of women...

trying to sit there
in the evening and study..

Let go.

What's wrong?

Can't you Iet me do my work?

What am I supposed to do?

Do something on your own.

Let's do something together.

You don't have
to play housewife.

All you do is your own crap.

It's important, don't you see?

What is it to me?

Now listen to this!

Women's lib!

I feel cold.

I have to get on.

Forget that crap!

I really wanted children.
I was pregnant,

so we got married...

Leave that alone!

What's gotten into you?

Now I have to start all over again.

If something's eating you,
say so, but calmly,

without getting on my nerves.

Did you write this?

"Do you have time
or the urge to do things...

with your husband, such as
a movie, play or a walk?"

Don't make yourself ridiculous!

You're always wanting to do things,
aren't you?

Some people
just haven't got time.

You seem to have too much.

Stop it! I can't stand it.

...it would have been nice,
but I thought...

the child would probably
suffer a lot.

Do you know
what the story's about?

Shall I tell you?

There's a workman.

He and his woman friend have
been living together some time.

Then he realizes that he
and his mates...

have got to help themselves.

So he goes in for political
activity, but all...

the girl wants
is to be happy with him.

And then he Ieaves her,

just because she won't pull
her weight politically.

Why not Iet me rot?

I won't Iet you rot.
You understand?

Don't be so gloomy. Do something!

I couldn't confess, either.

The priest was a friend...

of my parents, and...

he would have told them.

I was really scared that
someone would find out.

About that time, a 14-year old girl...

was having a sexual affair
with an older man.

She was sent to reformatory,
and he to jail.

The old man died. I was so glad...

...I was so glad...

but I didn't dare show it.

That gave me a peculiar
attitude to male sexuality.

It was always a threat...

Heini, Heini.

It's so stupid.

A zebra and a gnu,
a rare sort of Ioving couple,

walk down
the street and on and on,

into the endless steppes,
the vast spaces,

like the garden of Eden.

In between, they take a breather...

in a beautiful garden,
taking it easy.

In this garden.

Is it far to the sea?

About 380 kilometers.

If you stand on the heights
and gaze into this country,

you see giraffes and elephants
standing around,

all so peacefully...

The little wart-hog family
was delightful,

trotting along in single file,
mother in front,

father behind,
his curlytail in the air.

What time is it?

Two fifteen.

What's the book?

Origin of the Family.

Why not Eersian fairytales?

It's practicallythe same.

How are things?

Not too bad.

Okay.

Okay?

How about Grischa?

Let's forget that, shall we?

I'm tired of play-acting.

Everything we started, thinking...

we could improve things...

Well, nothing came of it.

We tried to change things
through the theatre.

Nothing happened at all.

Grischa would like to act,
so would I.

Your own show?

I have quite different ideas.

I'm not so stuck on politics.

I think it's arrogant for
an actor to go...

and tell workers what
it's all about.

I'd like a kind of folk theatre,

something like I've seen
the French doing.

Like "Theatre du Soleil."

OId time?

Yes, something people
get a kick out of.

But I don't know how to tackle it.

Doing things for fun is also important.

I understand you wanting your
freedom. I want mine, too.

But you won't be freer
by being alone.

It's something different.
You just have...

to discover a new way of life, right?

I know I've made mistakes,

but we can change that.

If we separate for a few days,

it'll be all right perhaps.

Hey, you?

Say something!

Say something!

Hey, you.

Heinrich.

I'm expecting a baby.

I'm so terribly happy.

I always wanted a child.

And you?

You're always talking
about wanting one.

You're not a mother, you know.

What'll we do if things don't
work out between us?

What'll we do with the baby?

I'd like to go on working.

But how can we do it alone?

It won't work, will it?

Tell me if it will work or not!

It just won't work out!

It won't... not with you, either.

I'm absolutely sure...

that the main thing is to
stick together,

for the baby...

Here's a field,
and there's another field.

That sets up tension,
and you act differently...

than if the other field wasn't there.

Then you can act together.

You weigh up...

Sometimes it gets really sadistic.

I wouldn't want that.

Okay, so you wouldn't!

I'd like to speak to Dr. Siebert,
please.

Where is she, then?

At the demonstration...

And where's that?

Thank you.

Earagraph 218 has existed
since 1871.

In the Weimar Republic,
a proletarian women's group...

was formed to combat
the abortion Iaw.

Abortions increased considerably
after World War I,

though usually after wars...

births tend to rise.

The poverty of working class
families was too dire...

to enable them to support
Iarge families.

Bourgeois society insisted...

on abortion being forbidden.

Do you know where Dr. Siebert is?

I haven't seen her today.

She said she'd come.

Maybe, she'll still show up.

Members of the party...

who stuck out for total
abolition of the act...

risked being expelled from
the Socialist Earty.

Thus, the S. E. split
the movement...

and helped to further fascism.

After that, abortions were
even more stringently..

punished, and the Nazis
even passed...

the death penalty, like in
other fascist countries.

I'm looking for Dr. Siebert.

Siebert?

-She's at the Women's Center.
-No.

In recent years there
has arisen another movement...

for abortion rights.
It has become so strong that...

the S.E.D. have been forced...

to put forward reforms.

Limited abortion,
with doctors' rights to refuse.

We cannot accept
this proposal, however,

because it means a
continuation of tutelage...

for women
and the nation in general.

I'm looking for Dr. Siebert,
a gynecologist.

She's at the hospital.
She's on night duty.

Now the search
for a hospital started.

Most of them said on the phone...

they just refused to do abortions,

or they said there weren't
enough beds.

However, many hospitals
asked me to come...

for examination, because
they made money that way.

The doctors told me...

they did abortions in
exceptional cases,

but mine wasn't one of them.

They said I was just the right age...

to bring up a child, and...

I could keep my job,
and that was a way...

of proving just how
emancipated I was.

In one public hospital they
did accept me,

said I could come
the very next day.

I had to wait for hours,
and then they told me...

my bed had been given to a
woman in her 4th month.

I was examined as
a matter of course.

The diagnosis showed I was
four months pregnant.

I had to scrape money together,
so as to get...

to Amsterdam as
quickly as possible.

In the meantime, it was hopeless...

trying to find a hospital here...

to take me in.

In Amsterdam they confirmed...

I was only three months pregnant.

We work on shifts alongside
the men

like them, we leave
the factory gates

But there our work does not end

We are women and we fight

Fearlessly for the revolution

With all our comrades
for Communism

United in struggle we are strong

I saw a gynecologist yesterday...

and he confirmed
that I am pregnant.

He thought it quite in order
to have the child,

but I'm finding it very hard
to make up my mind.

Have you had a pregnancytest?

And it was positive?

When was the first day
of your last period?

August 1 1th.

About 8 weeks, then?

Why didn't you come before?

I wanted to see a woman who...

I think I have more confidence
in a woman...

on the question...

of how to cope alone.

I'd like to talk personally,
not listen...

to preaching that...

it's normal for me to have a baby.

Would you like to have it?

I was looking forward to it,
but not having firm..

ties with the man
makes it difficult.

My boyfriend requires
harmony and happiness,

and he doesn't
realize he can't...

achieve that on his own,
so he's trying...

to keep up a dual relationship...

in which all we do...

is get on each other's nerves.

He can't see where his trouble lies,

namely in his mother complex,

which is very strong in him.

They had lots of kids at home,
and he's always...

felt he was neglected
from his earliest days.

We have opposite ideas
of responsibility.

We would like a baby...

just for the fun of it.

And I could see trouble Iooming,

professionally,
and in all sorts of ways.

What is your profession?

I'm an actress.

How old are you?

Thirty.

Got any children?

I took the pill for 7 years,
then got scared...

I'd never be able to have a baby.

It was always important
for me to think...

I could have one sometime.

What's the situation in Berlin...

if I want an abortion now?

There's Iegal abortion, but then...

you have to show reason why.

Usually they write:
danger of suicide,

because that gets past
the experts best.

It's tricky, of course.
She has to prove she's ill.

A woman has to more or Iess
call herself...

mentally ill to achieve an abortion,

and you never know where
the file will end up.

Then the doctor's panel
names two experts,

who have to give their consent.

But you still have
to find a hospital.

Then we have to see
when it can be done.

Both the doctors and the
hospital authorities have...

a right to refuse.

What's the method? How is it done?

It's still done with the traditional...

scraping method.

But there's another way...

The suction method?
They don't do it in Berlin.

I saw it in a film once,
it was quite simple.

Eainless, and the woman
could get up at once.

We shouldn't treat that too
Lightly, either,

but it's Iess of a stress
than curettage,

and total anesthesia isn't needed.

It can even be done in the
outpatient department.

Why haven't they
introduced it here yet?

The doctors haven't Iearnt how.

This makes it tough for me.

What does your friend do?

He acts, too.

So very difficult...

He finds it so hard to express
what he wants.

And if I were to have a baby now,

I'd have to see to everything
myself, seeing...

what kindergartens there are...

whether I could go on working
with a baby,

what to do if the baby's sick,
who'd look after it.

It's all quite difficult.

But you'd still very much
like a child?

You probably see that
as a positive factor...

Yes, I think it's extremely important.

What is it?

I want to be with you.

I need you.

Why are you up at this hour?

What do you want with me?

I've been thinking of you
all the time.

Leave me alone.

You don't need me.

All you need me for is screwing.
It sickens me.

You're so considerate.

leave me alone!

Why did you run away?

I can't stand it.

I can't stand it all alone.

I can't stand it with you
or anyone.

You don't really try.

Course I do! All the time.

I tried it with you, too.

You're ruining me.

I don't want anything from you.

You're too strong for me.

All women are too strong for me.

Leave me alone. I can't explain.

It's as if I had a stone here,

something with veins,
blue and red veins,

and I'd like to pass through,
but I can't.

When I was seventeen or eighteen
I thought...

maybe a woman could help me burst...

the thing, like with a Iaser gun,

till it all melts away.
But it only got harder.

You make me more and more aware
of the thing, you see?

I can't react to you the way I want.

I'd like to react more sensibly,
clearer, stronger,

I'd like it to be some other way,

but I can't, I can't.

I might as well hang myself.

Why do you always
think about yourself?

I keep thinking I don't
want to hurt you,

and then I run away.

I need your tenderness.

I can't show any,
not even to you.

-I've never Iearnt how.
-Yes, you have.

I was brought up by Nazis,
I'm a fascist.

I have no tenderness at all.

I have visions of beating you
to a pulp.

Stop that!

Oh, fuck off!

I don't believe you.

You can kiss my ass.

Come to me!

Beat it! That's my bed.
You old bag!

A guy can't even sleep
in his own bed.

I don't know what it is.

I only wish I could,

and things go all right,

but then I can't.

You're too much for me, you see,

like a saint, like the Virgin Mary.

That's okay, of course,
it's not a matter of that.

That's something different,
something in your belly.

As soon as I fall in love,

it makes me smaller and smaller.

I can't make it.

BIoody stupid.

Better make love to the dog
rather than you.

What happens now?

I'm Ieaving.

You?

I'm clearing out.

That's no solution.

Or maybe I'll string myself up.

UNDER THE EAVEMENT
LIES THE STRAND

Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.