Die Neue Zeit (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Der Prinz von Theben - full transcript
THE NEW ERA
THE PRINCE OF THEBES
You have to see,
that the bourgeois
conventions of that time,
they were strict.
I mean, dress codes and behavior.
These students, they drove the Baronesse
crazy.
And what did you do about it?
Silence, please!
May I ask you to be quiet.
Silence!
Please.
Now that the Bauhaus gentlemen
are here to explain themselves,
I may ask everyone present
to take your seats.
I welcome you all.
Mr Gropius.
The questions this citizens committee has
are familiar to you.
Scandals around your facility
are increasing.
As of late there are reports
of nude swimming
in public.
And that is what you
want to discuss with us?
The baroness herself
has seen your so called masters
with all of your student protégés
swimming naked in the Ilm River.
As far as I know Goethe used to swim
in the same place.
And I doubt he'd always
wear a bathing suit.
Since he was quite wild and free.
Are you comparing
your employees to Goethe?
No, only the bathing.
It is not just about that.
I believe the master student Gross
wants to contribute something.
I, Hans Gross,
master student of
the Grand Ducal Academy of Arts,
accuse you, Mr Gropius,
of admitting too many foreigners.
Including Jews and Bolshevists,
who disrespect the German sense
and German spirit
and steal the places
of German students.
I call on you to commit
to nationalism.
You must expel
all Jews and foreigners,
if you don't want to be suspected
of sympathizing
with the Bolshevist idea yourself.
I don't "have to"
do anything, Mr Gross.
I only have to follow my conviction.
And my conviction is this:
If art isn't for everyone,
what's it for?
But I understand your accusations
against the Bauhaus
and I reply as follows:
You are expelled,
effective immediately.
This is an abuse of your position!
Director Gropius.
Master.
I speak for all present masters
of the old academy.
If you expel student Gross from school
because of his honesty
you can count on the resistance
of our old masters council.
I call on you...
We call on you to commit
to the German nationalism.
I will never.
The Bauhaus is unpolitical.
Unpolitical?
- Yes.
Who are you fooling!
I'll give it to you in writing.
There are no political activities
at our school.
Write that down.
Please, please.
Let's all calm down.
Given the broad differences
of opinion at the school,
let me make the following suggestion:
We separate the old masters
and the old students
from the Bauhaus
and let them complete their studies
at an individual
German-National academy.
Hear, hear.
And the Bauhaus is unpolitical,
we also want to make note of that.
Agreed. Are we done here?
We are done here.
- So I would like to thank you.
What good is our work
without a political confession?
What good is a political confession
if we can't work anymore?
I wasn't aware how ambitious you are.
Careful, Johannes.
You have all heard
about the contentions.
It is now up to you
to make a decision.
The older students can complete their
studies at their own academy
with the honorable masters,
if they want to.
You also have the choice however
to stay with us at the Bauhaus.
Make your decision.
Dörte.
My beloved Dörte,
how happy I am about the news
that you can now
finish your studies of arts
with the good old masters.
Soon you can come home,
where mother and I happily await you.
How's our fairy tale book doing?
What's he writing?
Of course he thinks I will finish
my studies as quickly as possible.
Else Lasker-Schüler.
Do you know her?
I only read about her.
They say she was married twice
and had countless affairs.
My wishes spurt forth
into my yearning blood...
Good evening, Johannes.
The way wild vines
seethe over a bough in flames.
The picture is great.
- Yes.
This one too.
I like that a lot.
Else Lasker-Schüler.
1st Bauhaus-Night.
They're starting.
My wishes
spurt forth into my yearning heart
the way wild vines
seethe over a bough in flames.
I want the two
of us
made one force,
one blood
one fullness,
one agony
one world-consuming arrant love.
I want your
branchings woven into mine,
So much desire,
therefore so many men.
When sun-crazed summer cries out loud
of rain and bursts the thunderhead!
Life's force belongs to us
and death we drag forth
from his arid vault.
I want
cliffs risen...
from our abyss...
to overtop eachother
past the topmost mountain...
and beyond.
Hearts grappled
to the heart of heaven...
where we feel
our power in the wind...
and outshine...
even the unending.
Heedless, surging
into the headlong overflow
we
Fall inside each other
down steep faces
gushes listening only to themselves
where suddenly downroaring
into one wild prime
unshorn we braid
the waterfall.
Amazing!
Loringhoven doesn't approve.
She just doesn't get it.
I didn't get it all myself.
The poetry is just one aspect
of the fictional character
Prince of Thebes.
You should see her drawings
at the gallery Sturm
in Berlin. They're fantastic.
She's years ahead of her time.
It's really impressive.
Let's introduce ourselves.
- No. No.
Why not?
If you find it so interesting?
May we pay our respects?
With pleasure.
Miss Helm.
Did you enjoy the guest lecture
of Ms Lasker-Schüler?
Yes.
Her performance
was very inspiring.
Thank you. I'm glad.
A woman so libertine
didn't shatter you
or your civil worldview?
No.
We were surprised that your father
didn't call you back to Rostock.
Right, Walter?
Yes. It's nice you're staying on.
How did your father take it?
Let's not bore our guest
with pedagogic details, Johannes.
How could we?
Miss Helm!
- Johannes
What did you see tonight?
- Let it go.
Come on now.
We're here to talk about art.
Yes, but not to be made fun of, Alma.
Oh, please!
Dörte was fascinated
by your Berlin exhibit.
Thank you sincerely.
- Right?
Well...
what exactly fascinated you?
Miss Helm, thank you
and enjoy your evening.
You really have it in for her,
don't you?
She wanted to debate.
- Johannes.
Oh come on Walter. Excuse me.
You're pretty taken
with the girl, eh?
Our daughter?
I don't understand.
Our daughter, I don't understand.
I don't understand, pff.
That young student who you wanted
to protect so heroically.
Didn't work though!
Because Itten wanted to see blood.
That hurt you, didn't it.
Really hurts you, more than her.
At least nobody
enjoyed more than you
watching Itten's little torture.
You are and always
will be a pervert, Alma,
delighting on other people's
misfortune like a fat maggot.
Oh god, are you trying to hurt me,
because I'm cheeky enough
to bring up your
patriarchic cravings for young girls.
I couldn't care less
who'll be the next you screw.
Out of old friendship
I'd be glad if,
down there, you could do more
than just pass water.
Are you worried about
my health now?
No need. My body's just fine
the moment the woman
doesn't smell of cognac.
I wouldn't have to drink
if you still loved me.
Alma.
I'm sorry.
God, you're so easy to read.
With your patronizing
protective instinct.
You're so dumb,
that one day you might just
lay a rope around your neck.
She's your student,
she's entrusted to you.
You are her master!
I'm not sleeping with her.
Only in your imagination.
Fine with me.
But I sleep with Werfel.
And I want you to
answer his letter now.
Ah, that's what it's about.
Can we agree on Werfel's proposal?
Half a year I'm in Vienna with him,
half a year with you.
You couldn't make me happy
if you wanted to.
At least half a year I need a man
who can satisfy me physically.
Just be happy that I serve you
as decoration for half a year.
Decoration?
An old crock like you?
Werfel can have you all to himself.
I wonder what he sees in you.
You draw on your libertine fame.
But all you are now is vulgar.
What?
What?
You are boring Alma.
You too!
Dörte.
Dörte!
Nice.
Not good?
- It is!
It is, it is, it is...
It is.
That's what's missing.
You can't. It's yours.
Perfect.
That was somehow...
I think that left
a big impact on her.
Careful, buddy!
Dörte, looking great!
- Dörte, Dörte.
You look beautiful,
beautiful!
This way.
Stop.
To the left.
Here.
And?
What do you say?
Well...
I still need to cut the hair shorter.
I couldn't have foreseen that but...
How do you like her?
I mean...
you.
We have to go to class.
Dörte, wait.
I didn't stay here because of you.
Hello, master Itten.
Do you want to join me?
For our first exercise?
Got up as
Else Lasker-Schüler this morning?
Those two bags are
filled with materials
that couldn't be
more different in nature.
I want you to put your hand inside
and simultaneously draw
exactly what you feel.
What's inside of it?
Well,
if I told you this exercise
would be pointless, wouldn't it?
Now draw the emotion.
What do you feel?
This...
You, my precious,
are a hopeless case.
Pain!
Any extreme sensation
is a blessing for every true artist
but mademoiselle prefers
not to express it.
What are you doing here?
Running away, excellent!
Stay here!
Pack your bags!
Pack your bags and clear your space
for someone who's serious.
You are just a...
choleric person.
Stuffed with prejudice to the top!
You know nothing about me.
Nothing!
Dörte, don't do that!
Don't be chased away by that ape.
Gunta's right,
Itten is a master ape.
You will pass the preliminary easily.
Your work is very interesting.
You're so crafty.
Just ignore him.
Ignore him?
The first teacher
to tell me the truth?
What kind of truth?
That I can't speak for myself.
That all I can do is copy.
That's nonsense.
Nonsense.
You just have to be yourself.
It's easy.
Yes, just be myself.
Dörte.
Leave me...
Please wait, Dörte.
A self-portrait in the
style of New Objectivity.
Dörte was taking in every
influence so she changed quickly.
She had
been waiting for us, for the idea.
Was she copying?
This is from 1916
and looks like a Monet to me.
Kandinsky?
Yeah, she was young.
She was experimenting.
How nice you still protect her.
No, but it's true.
We become what we are
by imitation of others.
By imitation of life, don't we?
No no no no. You were in love with her.
Walter, you did not fuck
your student, did you?
You're vulgar, Stine, and you know that.
But for the record,
no I did not.
You know, Stine,
you’re asking the same questions
I had to answer years ago
about
unconventional behavior. About women.
Always the same questions.
What's he doing there?
He found an investor in Berlin
who leased the property for him.
Adolf Sommerfeld, another nutcase.
- There you go, minister, sir.
And now they want to build
their new school there.
I'll be right back.
Minister, sir!
Mr Gropius.
This is where we
build our colony.
A wide gathering place in the centre.
The masters' houses,
the workshops,
facilities for children, for sports
and all of it financed
by public funds
and a private investor.
Mr Sommerfeld is a
successful businessman
with high hopes.
But he can't do it alone.
Do you support the project?
Sir, come now,
it's surely in your interest too?
Those kind of success stories
turn ministers into presidents.
Mr Gropius, you should
be a businessman yourself.
What do you say?
I say Sommerfeld sounds Jewish.
Oh, come on, stop.
You still didn't get it yet, did you?
You are in deep water.
The citizens' committee won't get
tired of hustling you.
Too many women, too many Jews.
Give them something
or you're history.
Give those who'll be
history themselves?
Let me tell you something:
The world will still talk about the
Bauhaus in a hundred years.
And you, sir, can decide
to be immortal
or fall into oblivion
with those German-National comrades.
Careful...
Never bite the hand that feeds you.
Don't worry about me.
I have other hands feeding me.
Really?
Too many women, too many Jews,
You will have to make a sacrifice.
I tend to be a bit choleric, I know.
It's to your merit
that you're still here.
I would like to invite you
to my atelier this afternoon.
At four.
Are you going?
Not alone.
Hello.
- Good afternoon.
Hello.
Good afternoon, please.
How good that you
followed my invitation.
Come in.
Georg! Nice that you could make it.
The pleasure is all mine.
Master Muche.
- Well, curious?
Take off whatever you please.
Or stay dressed.
Whatever is comfortable.
What are we doing?
Yoga.
What is yoga?
I don't have a clue.
Mazdaznan is a study of life
helping to reach completeness
through a disciplined lifestyle.
The founder is
Otoman Zar-Adusht Ha'nisch.
We are vegetarians.
Excessive eating leads to
physical and mental interruptions,
to a decay of culture.
The Mazdaznan teaching is often
described as solar cult.
It's about illumination,
about the path to self-awareness.
Whoever wants to go that path with me
is invited to, every day at four.
Only one thing has to be clear:
I'm an incredibly humourless person.
I seek illumination myself
and my life is too short
to waste time, so please...
Don't show up to improve your grades.
What are you doing there?
Making a chair.
In the middle of the night?
You'll wake everyone up.
I call it the African Chair,
Like a king's armchair.
Throne.
Exactly.
Need help?
I can't sleep anyway.
Because of Dörte?
Is it over?
Hold tight, Auerbach.
I have assigned the twelve colours
to the twelve notes.
C, white,
C sharp, orange,
D, blue.
Please build a circle
and pick a colour.
Take a good look at it.
Gunta, I designed a chair.
So, you designed a chair.
A lot of chairs, actually.
But one in particular.
What's so special about it?
That I want to build it with you.
With me?
Because you are the best at
crocheting and knitting and such.
The chair needs both of us.
The chair needs both of us.
I may ask you to be quiet.
And now close your eyes.
And feel the colour
that you have internalized.
It's under your soles,
rises inside of you.
It fills your body, the room...
And now move inside the colour.
Nice.
Please sit down.
Like a queen.
And you want me to
weave the cushions?
Mhm.
What's the backrest
supposed to look like?
Up to here and straight.
And why straight and why not...
woven?
Nice too.
The African Chair, right?
Yes.
Seems like they took the idea
of collaboration very literally?
Absolutely. They loved to collaborate.
Sometimes even groups of
students worked together.
It's getting dark,
you can take off your glasses, Stine.
I saw your shiner anyway.
I fell. A little accident.
I see.
Anyway.
Itten later became a Nazi, didn't he?
Oh no no no. People exaggerated that.
Mazdaznan followed a race theory similar
to the Nazis but they didn't exclude Jews.
Back then we all didn't know about
Itten being a racist.
No one knew how dark this
Mazdaznan thing would get.
Master Muche gave this book to me.
And I wanted to ask you if you
can perform the cleansing rituals.
The cleansing rituals
are for the advanced.
But it also says that in some cases
it can be started earlier.
The cleansing is painful.
Why would you want to
undergo this torture?
If the body isn't clean
the mind can't be either.
That's what the books say.
But what's your interest in it?
I believe it could be true.
The mind needs a pure body
to be free.
Do you want to be free?
Because it's a high price
you'll have to pay.
Fine.
Prepare for the ritual.
For the next three days
you may not eat.
Drink only boiled water.
For lunch a clear vegetable broth
and tonight before going to bed
you will drink this.
What is it?
The beginning.
Enough.
Stop smoking now!
Marcel!
Marcel!
Stop smoking.
Dörte's suffocating.
That's not the smoke,
it's Itten's poison.
What's up with him?
All he does is
Out! Are you nuts? In my bed?
Are you crazy Andor?
You can cuddle at home. Out!
Out!
And you too!
He's not getting better today.
It's over! Out! All of you!
I'm so close to winning...
Gunta!
No thanks.
You don't drink?
Can't.
How about taking it off
for a moment?
I'm fasting.
Excuse me?
I'm fasting!
A bit boring on such an evening.
You could tell me a funny story.
Right away...
How are things with Itten? Better?
Yes. Fine.
Our relationship has changed.
I'm glad.
I know how to make you laugh.
Walter, heel.
Mistress wants to go home.
Yes, good boy. Get on with it.
Walter, do I have to
put you on a leash?
Good night, Miss Helm.
Night, director, sir.
Ready?
Wake up!
In a minute.
What... What did you do?
I let master Itten cleanse my body.
What?
He punctured me and removed the
poison and rotten substances
from the deeper layers.
Can we talk later?
Sure, of course.
Gottfried has a fever,
Ari is in the hospital,
I took him there.
He smelled rotten,
like putrid skin.
I think you should
stop immediately.
You don't have to take care of me
anymore, Johannes.
I know that.
I've understood.
But I'm still worried about you.
No need.
I'm fine.
The financial situation,
ladies and gentlemen,
continuous to be precarious.
I don't want to discuss
the workshops' expenses
in the open...
Johannes, there are
complaints by students
about you ordain a vegetarian diet.
Is that right?
Many students support the Mazdaznan.
Many of whom secretly
eat meat at the Elefant
from what I see.
Everyone sins...
Mr Gropius...
But all in all the idea of a
strict lifestyle inspires them.
May I ask for your attention?
It's still about the cafeteria.
Yes, I believe we should offer our
students decent meals
or else they'll get sick..
Rotten meat doesn't
make them healthy.
And besides I give them something
they can believe in.
The garlic soup?
That too.
And thus our miserly existence
becomes a royal one.
The starving feel miserable,
the fasting feel noble.
Johannes...
I know a lot of them admire you
but still many have complained
that they had to eat nothing but
garlic for days.
Once our vegetable garden
yields more we can offer more.
And the students like when we cook.
It's not just about the meals.
Several students wear bandages.
They're cleansing themselves.
This is also problematic.
Don't worry.
They're all on the right track.
Fine, it's not my decision to make.
Let's vote.
Who wants a vegetarian cuisine?
Have you been jealous?
Jealous?
About Itten?
He was gaining popularity.
I was pretty popular too, you know
This is for you.
Thank you.
Merry Christmas.
Thanks.
Marcel.
Thank you.
Thank you.
This is the Flat Iron.
What's up with you?
I'll open it later.
And what was your present for Dörte?
Stine, this was more than forty years ago.
The course and right way of Lao-tse.
Beware the beginnings!
Christmas 1919.
THE PRINCE OF THEBES
You have to see,
that the bourgeois
conventions of that time,
they were strict.
I mean, dress codes and behavior.
These students, they drove the Baronesse
crazy.
And what did you do about it?
Silence, please!
May I ask you to be quiet.
Silence!
Please.
Now that the Bauhaus gentlemen
are here to explain themselves,
I may ask everyone present
to take your seats.
I welcome you all.
Mr Gropius.
The questions this citizens committee has
are familiar to you.
Scandals around your facility
are increasing.
As of late there are reports
of nude swimming
in public.
And that is what you
want to discuss with us?
The baroness herself
has seen your so called masters
with all of your student protégés
swimming naked in the Ilm River.
As far as I know Goethe used to swim
in the same place.
And I doubt he'd always
wear a bathing suit.
Since he was quite wild and free.
Are you comparing
your employees to Goethe?
No, only the bathing.
It is not just about that.
I believe the master student Gross
wants to contribute something.
I, Hans Gross,
master student of
the Grand Ducal Academy of Arts,
accuse you, Mr Gropius,
of admitting too many foreigners.
Including Jews and Bolshevists,
who disrespect the German sense
and German spirit
and steal the places
of German students.
I call on you to commit
to nationalism.
You must expel
all Jews and foreigners,
if you don't want to be suspected
of sympathizing
with the Bolshevist idea yourself.
I don't "have to"
do anything, Mr Gross.
I only have to follow my conviction.
And my conviction is this:
If art isn't for everyone,
what's it for?
But I understand your accusations
against the Bauhaus
and I reply as follows:
You are expelled,
effective immediately.
This is an abuse of your position!
Director Gropius.
Master.
I speak for all present masters
of the old academy.
If you expel student Gross from school
because of his honesty
you can count on the resistance
of our old masters council.
I call on you...
We call on you to commit
to the German nationalism.
I will never.
The Bauhaus is unpolitical.
Unpolitical?
- Yes.
Who are you fooling!
I'll give it to you in writing.
There are no political activities
at our school.
Write that down.
Please, please.
Let's all calm down.
Given the broad differences
of opinion at the school,
let me make the following suggestion:
We separate the old masters
and the old students
from the Bauhaus
and let them complete their studies
at an individual
German-National academy.
Hear, hear.
And the Bauhaus is unpolitical,
we also want to make note of that.
Agreed. Are we done here?
We are done here.
- So I would like to thank you.
What good is our work
without a political confession?
What good is a political confession
if we can't work anymore?
I wasn't aware how ambitious you are.
Careful, Johannes.
You have all heard
about the contentions.
It is now up to you
to make a decision.
The older students can complete their
studies at their own academy
with the honorable masters,
if they want to.
You also have the choice however
to stay with us at the Bauhaus.
Make your decision.
Dörte.
My beloved Dörte,
how happy I am about the news
that you can now
finish your studies of arts
with the good old masters.
Soon you can come home,
where mother and I happily await you.
How's our fairy tale book doing?
What's he writing?
Of course he thinks I will finish
my studies as quickly as possible.
Else Lasker-Schüler.
Do you know her?
I only read about her.
They say she was married twice
and had countless affairs.
My wishes spurt forth
into my yearning blood...
Good evening, Johannes.
The way wild vines
seethe over a bough in flames.
The picture is great.
- Yes.
This one too.
I like that a lot.
Else Lasker-Schüler.
1st Bauhaus-Night.
They're starting.
My wishes
spurt forth into my yearning heart
the way wild vines
seethe over a bough in flames.
I want the two
of us
made one force,
one blood
one fullness,
one agony
one world-consuming arrant love.
I want your
branchings woven into mine,
So much desire,
therefore so many men.
When sun-crazed summer cries out loud
of rain and bursts the thunderhead!
Life's force belongs to us
and death we drag forth
from his arid vault.
I want
cliffs risen...
from our abyss...
to overtop eachother
past the topmost mountain...
and beyond.
Hearts grappled
to the heart of heaven...
where we feel
our power in the wind...
and outshine...
even the unending.
Heedless, surging
into the headlong overflow
we
Fall inside each other
down steep faces
gushes listening only to themselves
where suddenly downroaring
into one wild prime
unshorn we braid
the waterfall.
Amazing!
Loringhoven doesn't approve.
She just doesn't get it.
I didn't get it all myself.
The poetry is just one aspect
of the fictional character
Prince of Thebes.
You should see her drawings
at the gallery Sturm
in Berlin. They're fantastic.
She's years ahead of her time.
It's really impressive.
Let's introduce ourselves.
- No. No.
Why not?
If you find it so interesting?
May we pay our respects?
With pleasure.
Miss Helm.
Did you enjoy the guest lecture
of Ms Lasker-Schüler?
Yes.
Her performance
was very inspiring.
Thank you. I'm glad.
A woman so libertine
didn't shatter you
or your civil worldview?
No.
We were surprised that your father
didn't call you back to Rostock.
Right, Walter?
Yes. It's nice you're staying on.
How did your father take it?
Let's not bore our guest
with pedagogic details, Johannes.
How could we?
Miss Helm!
- Johannes
What did you see tonight?
- Let it go.
Come on now.
We're here to talk about art.
Yes, but not to be made fun of, Alma.
Oh, please!
Dörte was fascinated
by your Berlin exhibit.
Thank you sincerely.
- Right?
Well...
what exactly fascinated you?
Miss Helm, thank you
and enjoy your evening.
You really have it in for her,
don't you?
She wanted to debate.
- Johannes.
Oh come on Walter. Excuse me.
You're pretty taken
with the girl, eh?
Our daughter?
I don't understand.
Our daughter, I don't understand.
I don't understand, pff.
That young student who you wanted
to protect so heroically.
Didn't work though!
Because Itten wanted to see blood.
That hurt you, didn't it.
Really hurts you, more than her.
At least nobody
enjoyed more than you
watching Itten's little torture.
You are and always
will be a pervert, Alma,
delighting on other people's
misfortune like a fat maggot.
Oh god, are you trying to hurt me,
because I'm cheeky enough
to bring up your
patriarchic cravings for young girls.
I couldn't care less
who'll be the next you screw.
Out of old friendship
I'd be glad if,
down there, you could do more
than just pass water.
Are you worried about
my health now?
No need. My body's just fine
the moment the woman
doesn't smell of cognac.
I wouldn't have to drink
if you still loved me.
Alma.
I'm sorry.
God, you're so easy to read.
With your patronizing
protective instinct.
You're so dumb,
that one day you might just
lay a rope around your neck.
She's your student,
she's entrusted to you.
You are her master!
I'm not sleeping with her.
Only in your imagination.
Fine with me.
But I sleep with Werfel.
And I want you to
answer his letter now.
Ah, that's what it's about.
Can we agree on Werfel's proposal?
Half a year I'm in Vienna with him,
half a year with you.
You couldn't make me happy
if you wanted to.
At least half a year I need a man
who can satisfy me physically.
Just be happy that I serve you
as decoration for half a year.
Decoration?
An old crock like you?
Werfel can have you all to himself.
I wonder what he sees in you.
You draw on your libertine fame.
But all you are now is vulgar.
What?
What?
You are boring Alma.
You too!
Dörte.
Dörte!
Nice.
Not good?
- It is!
It is, it is, it is...
It is.
That's what's missing.
You can't. It's yours.
Perfect.
That was somehow...
I think that left
a big impact on her.
Careful, buddy!
Dörte, looking great!
- Dörte, Dörte.
You look beautiful,
beautiful!
This way.
Stop.
To the left.
Here.
And?
What do you say?
Well...
I still need to cut the hair shorter.
I couldn't have foreseen that but...
How do you like her?
I mean...
you.
We have to go to class.
Dörte, wait.
I didn't stay here because of you.
Hello, master Itten.
Do you want to join me?
For our first exercise?
Got up as
Else Lasker-Schüler this morning?
Those two bags are
filled with materials
that couldn't be
more different in nature.
I want you to put your hand inside
and simultaneously draw
exactly what you feel.
What's inside of it?
Well,
if I told you this exercise
would be pointless, wouldn't it?
Now draw the emotion.
What do you feel?
This...
You, my precious,
are a hopeless case.
Pain!
Any extreme sensation
is a blessing for every true artist
but mademoiselle prefers
not to express it.
What are you doing here?
Running away, excellent!
Stay here!
Pack your bags!
Pack your bags and clear your space
for someone who's serious.
You are just a...
choleric person.
Stuffed with prejudice to the top!
You know nothing about me.
Nothing!
Dörte, don't do that!
Don't be chased away by that ape.
Gunta's right,
Itten is a master ape.
You will pass the preliminary easily.
Your work is very interesting.
You're so crafty.
Just ignore him.
Ignore him?
The first teacher
to tell me the truth?
What kind of truth?
That I can't speak for myself.
That all I can do is copy.
That's nonsense.
Nonsense.
You just have to be yourself.
It's easy.
Yes, just be myself.
Dörte.
Leave me...
Please wait, Dörte.
A self-portrait in the
style of New Objectivity.
Dörte was taking in every
influence so she changed quickly.
She had
been waiting for us, for the idea.
Was she copying?
This is from 1916
and looks like a Monet to me.
Kandinsky?
Yeah, she was young.
She was experimenting.
How nice you still protect her.
No, but it's true.
We become what we are
by imitation of others.
By imitation of life, don't we?
No no no no. You were in love with her.
Walter, you did not fuck
your student, did you?
You're vulgar, Stine, and you know that.
But for the record,
no I did not.
You know, Stine,
you’re asking the same questions
I had to answer years ago
about
unconventional behavior. About women.
Always the same questions.
What's he doing there?
He found an investor in Berlin
who leased the property for him.
Adolf Sommerfeld, another nutcase.
- There you go, minister, sir.
And now they want to build
their new school there.
I'll be right back.
Minister, sir!
Mr Gropius.
This is where we
build our colony.
A wide gathering place in the centre.
The masters' houses,
the workshops,
facilities for children, for sports
and all of it financed
by public funds
and a private investor.
Mr Sommerfeld is a
successful businessman
with high hopes.
But he can't do it alone.
Do you support the project?
Sir, come now,
it's surely in your interest too?
Those kind of success stories
turn ministers into presidents.
Mr Gropius, you should
be a businessman yourself.
What do you say?
I say Sommerfeld sounds Jewish.
Oh, come on, stop.
You still didn't get it yet, did you?
You are in deep water.
The citizens' committee won't get
tired of hustling you.
Too many women, too many Jews.
Give them something
or you're history.
Give those who'll be
history themselves?
Let me tell you something:
The world will still talk about the
Bauhaus in a hundred years.
And you, sir, can decide
to be immortal
or fall into oblivion
with those German-National comrades.
Careful...
Never bite the hand that feeds you.
Don't worry about me.
I have other hands feeding me.
Really?
Too many women, too many Jews,
You will have to make a sacrifice.
I tend to be a bit choleric, I know.
It's to your merit
that you're still here.
I would like to invite you
to my atelier this afternoon.
At four.
Are you going?
Not alone.
Hello.
- Good afternoon.
Hello.
Good afternoon, please.
How good that you
followed my invitation.
Come in.
Georg! Nice that you could make it.
The pleasure is all mine.
Master Muche.
- Well, curious?
Take off whatever you please.
Or stay dressed.
Whatever is comfortable.
What are we doing?
Yoga.
What is yoga?
I don't have a clue.
Mazdaznan is a study of life
helping to reach completeness
through a disciplined lifestyle.
The founder is
Otoman Zar-Adusht Ha'nisch.
We are vegetarians.
Excessive eating leads to
physical and mental interruptions,
to a decay of culture.
The Mazdaznan teaching is often
described as solar cult.
It's about illumination,
about the path to self-awareness.
Whoever wants to go that path with me
is invited to, every day at four.
Only one thing has to be clear:
I'm an incredibly humourless person.
I seek illumination myself
and my life is too short
to waste time, so please...
Don't show up to improve your grades.
What are you doing there?
Making a chair.
In the middle of the night?
You'll wake everyone up.
I call it the African Chair,
Like a king's armchair.
Throne.
Exactly.
Need help?
I can't sleep anyway.
Because of Dörte?
Is it over?
Hold tight, Auerbach.
I have assigned the twelve colours
to the twelve notes.
C, white,
C sharp, orange,
D, blue.
Please build a circle
and pick a colour.
Take a good look at it.
Gunta, I designed a chair.
So, you designed a chair.
A lot of chairs, actually.
But one in particular.
What's so special about it?
That I want to build it with you.
With me?
Because you are the best at
crocheting and knitting and such.
The chair needs both of us.
The chair needs both of us.
I may ask you to be quiet.
And now close your eyes.
And feel the colour
that you have internalized.
It's under your soles,
rises inside of you.
It fills your body, the room...
And now move inside the colour.
Nice.
Please sit down.
Like a queen.
And you want me to
weave the cushions?
Mhm.
What's the backrest
supposed to look like?
Up to here and straight.
And why straight and why not...
woven?
Nice too.
The African Chair, right?
Yes.
Seems like they took the idea
of collaboration very literally?
Absolutely. They loved to collaborate.
Sometimes even groups of
students worked together.
It's getting dark,
you can take off your glasses, Stine.
I saw your shiner anyway.
I fell. A little accident.
I see.
Anyway.
Itten later became a Nazi, didn't he?
Oh no no no. People exaggerated that.
Mazdaznan followed a race theory similar
to the Nazis but they didn't exclude Jews.
Back then we all didn't know about
Itten being a racist.
No one knew how dark this
Mazdaznan thing would get.
Master Muche gave this book to me.
And I wanted to ask you if you
can perform the cleansing rituals.
The cleansing rituals
are for the advanced.
But it also says that in some cases
it can be started earlier.
The cleansing is painful.
Why would you want to
undergo this torture?
If the body isn't clean
the mind can't be either.
That's what the books say.
But what's your interest in it?
I believe it could be true.
The mind needs a pure body
to be free.
Do you want to be free?
Because it's a high price
you'll have to pay.
Fine.
Prepare for the ritual.
For the next three days
you may not eat.
Drink only boiled water.
For lunch a clear vegetable broth
and tonight before going to bed
you will drink this.
What is it?
The beginning.
Enough.
Stop smoking now!
Marcel!
Marcel!
Stop smoking.
Dörte's suffocating.
That's not the smoke,
it's Itten's poison.
What's up with him?
All he does is
Out! Are you nuts? In my bed?
Are you crazy Andor?
You can cuddle at home. Out!
Out!
And you too!
He's not getting better today.
It's over! Out! All of you!
I'm so close to winning...
Gunta!
No thanks.
You don't drink?
Can't.
How about taking it off
for a moment?
I'm fasting.
Excuse me?
I'm fasting!
A bit boring on such an evening.
You could tell me a funny story.
Right away...
How are things with Itten? Better?
Yes. Fine.
Our relationship has changed.
I'm glad.
I know how to make you laugh.
Walter, heel.
Mistress wants to go home.
Yes, good boy. Get on with it.
Walter, do I have to
put you on a leash?
Good night, Miss Helm.
Night, director, sir.
Ready?
Wake up!
In a minute.
What... What did you do?
I let master Itten cleanse my body.
What?
He punctured me and removed the
poison and rotten substances
from the deeper layers.
Can we talk later?
Sure, of course.
Gottfried has a fever,
Ari is in the hospital,
I took him there.
He smelled rotten,
like putrid skin.
I think you should
stop immediately.
You don't have to take care of me
anymore, Johannes.
I know that.
I've understood.
But I'm still worried about you.
No need.
I'm fine.
The financial situation,
ladies and gentlemen,
continuous to be precarious.
I don't want to discuss
the workshops' expenses
in the open...
Johannes, there are
complaints by students
about you ordain a vegetarian diet.
Is that right?
Many students support the Mazdaznan.
Many of whom secretly
eat meat at the Elefant
from what I see.
Everyone sins...
Mr Gropius...
But all in all the idea of a
strict lifestyle inspires them.
May I ask for your attention?
It's still about the cafeteria.
Yes, I believe we should offer our
students decent meals
or else they'll get sick..
Rotten meat doesn't
make them healthy.
And besides I give them something
they can believe in.
The garlic soup?
That too.
And thus our miserly existence
becomes a royal one.
The starving feel miserable,
the fasting feel noble.
Johannes...
I know a lot of them admire you
but still many have complained
that they had to eat nothing but
garlic for days.
Once our vegetable garden
yields more we can offer more.
And the students like when we cook.
It's not just about the meals.
Several students wear bandages.
They're cleansing themselves.
This is also problematic.
Don't worry.
They're all on the right track.
Fine, it's not my decision to make.
Let's vote.
Who wants a vegetarian cuisine?
Have you been jealous?
Jealous?
About Itten?
He was gaining popularity.
I was pretty popular too, you know
This is for you.
Thank you.
Merry Christmas.
Thanks.
Marcel.
Thank you.
Thank you.
This is the Flat Iron.
What's up with you?
I'll open it later.
And what was your present for Dörte?
Stine, this was more than forty years ago.
The course and right way of Lao-tse.
Beware the beginnings!
Christmas 1919.