Die Neue Zeit (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Die Märzgefallenen - full transcript
THE NEW ERA
THE MARCH DEAD
Her daughter gave me this.
It has a very personal dedication in it.
'Principiis obsta': Resist the beginning.
Was that your present?
Maybe
And why did you write that?
Listen, Stine: I told you
we liked each other a lot
but she was an
extreme person and
we had to take care. I had to take care of
her and of myself. I have nothing to hide.
Good.
Can I switch back on my recorder then?
Sure. Go ahead but only if you
don't mind my next question.
Why are
you telling me lies about your accident?
I know, that Carl beats the shit out of you
and you come here and accuse
me of mistreating my students.
What do you want from me, Stine?
I already told you:
I want to hear what ever happened
to the great idea of equality?
Equality.
Dörte!
- Hello Dörte!
Hello.
What are the new students like?
How's Johannes?
How are you?
Mummy, look!
Dorothea's here.
Dörte, how nice.
Mum.
Oh, you have a bob.
Yes.
Your father's waiting for you
in the conservatory.
Of course.
Good evening.
What's that?
Nothing. It's just fashion.
It's ugly.
Thank you.
Bon appétit.
- Bon appétit.
Don't you like it?
Dorothea,
I received this letter from Weimar,
which states that you wish
to continue studying at this Bauhaus.
Three years...
How much longer is this meant to go on?
Can't we talk about something else
on the first night?
Fine. Then tell us...
What made you crop your hair like a boy?
Nothing, it was just a whim.
Fancied something new?
- Yes, exactly.
Why?
What do you mean?
- Why something new?
What's wrong with the old?
Look at your sisters,
your beautiful mother,
what's wrong with their lovely hair?
Nothing, they look beautiful.
I just thought it might change me.
Change?
Into what?
Into something special?
A non-conformist...
Girls today don't give much thought
to matters of fashion, Rudolf.
Yes, that's right.
It's exactly as Mum says.
So it was really just a whim?
Like your wanting to study?
I'm sorry, Father, I should have asked you.
What's the matter with you?
What makes a young woman
crop her divine locks
until she resembles a boy?
Tell us what it is that disfigures you
and tears you from us.
Tell us!
They did not let her
go back to the Bauhaus.
Oh.
Once they found out about the
Mazdaznan thing she was grounded.
You're cheating, I'm not playing.
Just deal again.
- Stop arguing.
She returned to her old life.
At least they wanted her to.
Very nice.
Very nice, thank you.
Do you go to Paris often?
- Occasionally.
How interesting.
Wouldn't you like to see Paris?
Her mother introduced
her to potential fiancés.
Oh... I brought you a little gift.
That's very kind of you.
May I show you?
Guerlain has made this lipstick
that's hidden inside this little tube.
It goes out... and back in.
Out... and back in.
That's remarkable.
Would you like to try?
She was a stranger in this world.
Then one day her father called her
into his study.
You wanted to see me, Father?
Please, Dörte, have a seat.
I'd like to talk to you about Aristotle.
About...
We have more pressing issues.
No, I think Aristotle is very relevant.
Aristotle refers to the fine arts
as "mimesis", or imitation.
For two millennia, imitation has formed
the basis of our aesthetic concepts.
Each of these books -
and I've read many of them -
tries to imitate real life,
making it accessible
and comprehensible to us.
The same applies to music,
to dance, all art forms.
But...
- Art replicates the visible world.
It amuses us, it educates us,
it enlightens us,
and forms an ideal image of man.
The question is, however,
what can we take from this image of man?
This is the dadaist Hugo Ball,
reciting his poem "Karawane".
I'd like to read it to you.
Please, hear me out.
And so on.
You want me to respond?
- Please do.
You're saying art replicates the world.
Dada does the same.
These poems reflect the current soundscape,
the cacophony of the trenches,
the metropolis, the industrialised world.
They're incomprehensible.
The poets show how language is perverted.
Language is the most powerful weapon
of the educated establishment.
But language has been destroyed,
rendered impossible by journalism,
misappropriated by the elite,
who use our language
to stoke nationalism and glorify war.
What's wrong with
being proud of your country?
What's wrong with just being a person?
Not German, not French.
I know you're a humanist, Father,
but can't you see how nationalism leads
to imperialism, racism and anti-Semitism,
which makes your Empire
a radical denial of your own humanism.
Are you calling me an anti-Semite?
- No.
No, or you wouldn't have married Mum.
We can argue about art
but not about politics.
Nationalism is wrong.
And Bolshevism is right, is it?
Those uneducated yokels,
who have the audacity
to think they could rule the world.
If you want to talk about Aristotle...
For him, citizenship
wasn't defined by someone's heritage,
but by their political contribution.
Yes, that's correct.
But Aristotle also says it's better
for women to be dominated by men,
as men possess
superior powers of judgement.
He obviously didn't know you.
I'm glad this ridiculous school hasn't
completely ruined your faculty of thought.
I'm sorry, but I don't understand.
What exactly do you mean?
Art doesn't replicate the visible world,
it makes it visible.
But why would art
function differently today
than it has
throughout the history of mankind?
The world has changed.
She prevailed against the old man.
Sorry.
Christ,
don't die on me.
To let you print your lies?
Forget it Stine.
It's late anyway.
You see,
Dörte did not only find the strength
to overcome her patronizing father.
At the end of the first semester Itten
asked the students to criticize themselves.
Yes, you heard right.
Some of you won't be able
to continue your studies.
It's up to you to tell me who.
Breuer doesn't deserve it.
Are you mad? You can't even hold a brush.
No... Stop it, stop...
This can't be right, Master Itten.
Gropius promised us a community,
a secret society,
intended to preserve a core of beliefs.
That's how he put it.
This is wrong.
Thank you, Miss Helm.
Thank you, you're right.
And that's the final lesson
of your preliminary course:
Never forget we're a community.
At my school under my education
Dörte Helm became an
independent artist
and a liberated woman
and that is the truth.
Write that, Stine.
Sure.
Just one more thing: Why
was Dörte exmatriculated?
I have to admit you're well prepared.
Thank you, Walter.
So why did you kick her out?
Desperate times take desperate measures.
Gunta, can you hear that?
Yes, what...
Volunteer corps soldiers.
What's going on?
Gunta, soldiers?
- Yes, I think so.
Julia, come on!
What is this?
- Volunteer soldiers?
Are they Kapp's men?
Out of the way.
Go back inside.
Where are they going?
Shall we have a look?
- Better not.
What a hero.
You, get lost.
Let's go have a look.
I'll get Feininger's camera.
Get off the street!
Stand back... Door is open!
Right, men. Move it!
Move it!
You can't go...
Minister for Education Greil?
Who's asking?
Jacobsen, Captain
of the Naumburg Light Infantry.
I've come to arrest you
and transfer you to the garrison prison.
Arrest me?
- Yes.
Over in Berlin, the Ehrhardt Marine Corps
under General von Lüttwitz
has occupied the government quarter.
President Ebert
and the government have fled.
Wolfgang Kapp is the new Chancellor.
Kapp has waged a coup?
You must come with us, please.
Citizens of Weimar,
the government has abdicated.
The government has abdicated.
What?
Come on, faster.
- Move, hurry.
Keep walking.
Get out of here. Move it.
Get lost.
A little urgency.
Alma.
- Yes?
Where's Manon?
- At the neighbour's. Why?
A military coup.
- What?
"Government has abdicated.
"The new authority's
directives must be adhered to.
"Commander-in-chief Major General Hagenberg
will relentlessly quash any attempts
to disturb public order
or instigate strikes."
You must take action
to protect your school.
But what can I do?
Listen, once the communists
among your students take action,
- if they haven't already -
the military will shut you down.
This is where your statement
at the citizens committee comes in:
"The Bauhaus is apolitical."
What if something happens to me?
Then something good
will have come from the coup after all.
Marcel, I'll go check the back.
Long live the republic!
Come on.
- Quickly.
Johannes?
- Gunta.
Dörte! Marcel!
Come quick!
- Why?
We need to leave.
Auerbach and the communists...
There he is.
Down with Kapp!
To the People's House.
To the People's House!
To the People's House!
Get out! Move it!
In there!
Hurry! Faster! Let's go!
Minister Greil.
Good to see you're unscathed.
- Unscathed, yes...
Thank you.
Apart from my belief
in the superiority of social democracy.
Comrades, it's time to proclaim
the Republic of Councils.
In the Vogtland, the anarchist Max Hölzl
is already rallying his supporters
to rise up against the military coup.
Comrades, the time has come
to put into practice
the radical societal change...
that failed during
the half-hearted revolution of 1918/19.
This means nationalising
important sectors of the economy!
Abolishing the Reichswehr armed forces!
Comrades,
this is the moment
when we fight for the revolution!
To arms!
To arms, comrades!
To arms!
To arms!
This is it.
Get your arms.
Marcel!
This is it.
- I'm not fighting.
Why?
- Johannes, you think this is a game?
Did you see those soldiers' eyes?
They're desperate to fight for Germany.
I'm sure your Dad would agree.
I just meant they'll show no mercy.
I don't want to watch you die.
Dörte...
There's a time to study
and a time to fight.
I'm here to study.
You coming?
- Yep. I'm just sorting the pamphlets.
Guys,
if the coup succeeds,
they'll shut down our school.
Dörte, can you at least
print some pamphlets?
The unions want to call a general strike.
We have printers,
but we need someone who's good at it.
Are you insane?
Dörte! Don't do it, Dörte.
Gunta's right.
Gropius will expel you.
Because of a few pamphlets?
I just won't get caught.
Dörte, you're crazy.
Dörte... It's way too dangerous.
It's quiet, they're all
in the lecture hall, we can carry on.
Johannes, the Masters Council
must now speak with one voice.
For that we'd need to share an opinion.
I look forward to your speech.
We need a revolution.
Director...
Quiet... Quiet!
Please, I don't need to explain
the situation,
it's perfectly obvious to all of us.
Once again,
Germany's political future is at stake,
and with it,
our future here at the Bauhaus.
The rule I decreed some time ago
is valid now more than ever.
Any political activity
at this school is forbidden.
We won't accept
your ban on political agitation.
We don't fight
against the left or the right,
we shape the future by other means,
through the medium of art.
We can't say how this coup will end,
but end it will,
and our actions will be judged.
We're being watched, so let me remind you,
no political activities, please.
We must take action or...
Anyone who takes a political side
will be expelled.
What?
You're an opportunist!
You're welcome to study
at a different school.
How do you think right-wing nationalists
will respond to socialist street fighters?
With violence, with soldiers,
forcing a war
they're familiar with and can win.
Germans like bowing to authority,
they believe in the language of force.
But I see something in you
that really scares
the ageing, bourgeois conservatives:
They're scared
of inquisitive free spirits.
They're scared
of cosmopolitan Jews and confident women.
They're scared
because you think differently,
because you are different.
Trust me.
I'll make sure
you are this country's future.
Bravo.
- Bravo.
Come.
Quiet.
GENERAL STRIKE
In here. Let's go.
You're doing more?
- Yes, a crate for the People's House.
Good.
- Be careful.
Go.
What's this?
GENERAL STRIKE
AGAINST THE KAPP COUP
Out, now!
How many did they print?
No idea,
but I know what school's responsible.
Hurry, Gropius caught me.
- What?
Go before he sees you too.
Or else all this
will have been in vain. Hurry.
Keep still now.
Press this against it. Press hard.
You'll be all right.
Johannes, what happened?
- Dörte...
Herfurth shot me.
The bastard.
Did you get them printed?
- Yes.
The others are taking them all over town.
Dörte, it looks amazing.
- Gropius caught me.
Why stay at a school
that won't take a stand?
Here... We're in telegraphic contact
with all major cities.
This is a list
of Kapp supporters in Rostock.
You chose the right side.
I caught a student
printing posters earlier today.
Will you take action?
- I have to.
Who was it?
- You don't know her.
Breakfast.
General strike.
A general strike.
- What?
Kapp has ordered
a tough crackdown on any strike.
This will escalate. There'll be bloodshed.
Comrades.
The general strike is proving powerful.
All over Germany,
public order has been disrupted.
We brought this about.
Kapp and his supporters realise
they can't rule from the top down.
We must fight on!
I hear your calls for a revolt.
But people are also asking
why we're settling for a blockade,
rather than joining our comrades-in-arms
in fighting the right.
Like those in the Ruhr area,
or here in the Vogtland, under Max Hölzl.
I'll tell you why, comrades.
There's no need for bloodshed.
We can defeat our enemy
through silent resistance.
Why suffer further casualties
when we can end this bad dream
with just our solidarity?
This meeting is terminated.
Everyone present will be searched.
These are union premises,
you will leave immediately!
They killed nine people that day.
I understood: Dörte was fighting,
but
she didn't know when to stop.
She never stopped.
The coup is over!
The coup is over.
The volunteer corps have stood down.
The coup is over.
The general strike brought
the whole country to a standstill.
The ministries in Berlin
refused to follow Kapp.
You can't govern by yourself.
I need to check
the negotiations in parliament.
There are no negotiations.
Kapp has fled, Ebert's returning to Berlin.
The nightmare's over.
What, without any bloodshed?
- No, dozens of casualties.
Nine were killed at the People's House,
it sounded horrible.
Have you heard anything?
- Not yet.
Do you have anything more to say?
All right, you can leave.
Please ask Miss Helm to come in.
Dörte, you're next.
Please sit down.
You know why you're here, don't you?
Contrary to school regulations,
you printed political propaganda.
You're faced with expulsion.
May I?
What even is this?
Is it supposed to be a flash?
It's an abstraction.
A flash, or a force that erupts,
like a cry of anguish
against the injustice of repression.
That kind of thing.
And you designed it?
Will that make it worse?
Who knows, I can't do any more
than throw you out.
Yes, it's my design.
But I only had that night to do it.
Do you like it?
You'll hear from me, Miss Helm.
Would you send in Auerbach?
Johannes? You're next.
Aesthetically, she did everything right.
- Politically too.
There you are. Come, have a seat.
Please sit down, I don't want a fight.
But I don't want martyrs either,
you understand?
I'll concede an amnesty
for political statements during the coup.
But from now on I want quiet.
I watched my comrades
dying in front of my eyes.
And you want quiet?
Yes, Auerbach, I do.
If you don't like that,
you should consider leaving this school.
Gropius is a total conformist.
I'm fed up with his double standards.
To me, it seemed
he wasn't taking it seriously.
They'll all be at the funeral tomorrow,
including Gropius.
Faking sorrow for the dead,
but they're our dead.
Let me tell you something, Dörte.
We could have different lives.
We should have different lives.
Like at Monte Verità.
Life as part of a true community.
As a commune.
This here is all just fake.
But what will he do about us?
Did he say anything?
Johannes, we're ready.
Come.
And we have more of them.
Very good.
What are you planning?
A protest. At the funeral procession.
Then you leave him no choice
but to throw you out.
He will anyway.
- Did he say that?
Yes.
And me too?
Yes, you too.
There are better places, Dörte.
Much better ones.
Gunta, let's look for the others.
Come.
Gunta.
Soldiers are murderers,
whether they're in uniform or not.
We see you, Dr Herfurth. We see you.
We see you, Dr Herfurth.
The Bauhaus sure is apolitical.
The Council has unanimously decided...
Not unanimously.
The Council has decided...
The students who defied the ban
on political agitation
will be expelled from the school.
They will be deregistered
with immediate effect.
That's all. Let's go.
You did the right thing.
You were consistent.
Here...
My reply to Werfel.
May I ask what you wrote to him?
Nothing you wouldn't also wish for.
I hope you'll be happy with him.
Manon will visit you as often as possible.
That would be nice.
Dörte...
If you had a choice,
would you still move
to a commune with Auerbach?
Talk to Gropius one last time.
I'll never talk to him again.
This is the start of something new, Dörte.
Dörte...
Dörte.
Thoughts are but free
No one can guess them
They are flying by
Like nocturnal shadows
No person can know them
No hunter can shoot them
With powder and lead
Thoughts are but free
Wait!
- Hilde!
Wait for me.
Wait!
- Hilde.
I'm coming after all.
But always quietly
As is deemed becoming
My wish, my desire
No one can deny me
So it will always be
Thoughts are but free
THE MARCH DEAD
Her daughter gave me this.
It has a very personal dedication in it.
'Principiis obsta': Resist the beginning.
Was that your present?
Maybe
And why did you write that?
Listen, Stine: I told you
we liked each other a lot
but she was an
extreme person and
we had to take care. I had to take care of
her and of myself. I have nothing to hide.
Good.
Can I switch back on my recorder then?
Sure. Go ahead but only if you
don't mind my next question.
Why are
you telling me lies about your accident?
I know, that Carl beats the shit out of you
and you come here and accuse
me of mistreating my students.
What do you want from me, Stine?
I already told you:
I want to hear what ever happened
to the great idea of equality?
Equality.
Dörte!
- Hello Dörte!
Hello.
What are the new students like?
How's Johannes?
How are you?
Mummy, look!
Dorothea's here.
Dörte, how nice.
Mum.
Oh, you have a bob.
Yes.
Your father's waiting for you
in the conservatory.
Of course.
Good evening.
What's that?
Nothing. It's just fashion.
It's ugly.
Thank you.
Bon appétit.
- Bon appétit.
Don't you like it?
Dorothea,
I received this letter from Weimar,
which states that you wish
to continue studying at this Bauhaus.
Three years...
How much longer is this meant to go on?
Can't we talk about something else
on the first night?
Fine. Then tell us...
What made you crop your hair like a boy?
Nothing, it was just a whim.
Fancied something new?
- Yes, exactly.
Why?
What do you mean?
- Why something new?
What's wrong with the old?
Look at your sisters,
your beautiful mother,
what's wrong with their lovely hair?
Nothing, they look beautiful.
I just thought it might change me.
Change?
Into what?
Into something special?
A non-conformist...
Girls today don't give much thought
to matters of fashion, Rudolf.
Yes, that's right.
It's exactly as Mum says.
So it was really just a whim?
Like your wanting to study?
I'm sorry, Father, I should have asked you.
What's the matter with you?
What makes a young woman
crop her divine locks
until she resembles a boy?
Tell us what it is that disfigures you
and tears you from us.
Tell us!
They did not let her
go back to the Bauhaus.
Oh.
Once they found out about the
Mazdaznan thing she was grounded.
You're cheating, I'm not playing.
Just deal again.
- Stop arguing.
She returned to her old life.
At least they wanted her to.
Very nice.
Very nice, thank you.
Do you go to Paris often?
- Occasionally.
How interesting.
Wouldn't you like to see Paris?
Her mother introduced
her to potential fiancés.
Oh... I brought you a little gift.
That's very kind of you.
May I show you?
Guerlain has made this lipstick
that's hidden inside this little tube.
It goes out... and back in.
Out... and back in.
That's remarkable.
Would you like to try?
She was a stranger in this world.
Then one day her father called her
into his study.
You wanted to see me, Father?
Please, Dörte, have a seat.
I'd like to talk to you about Aristotle.
About...
We have more pressing issues.
No, I think Aristotle is very relevant.
Aristotle refers to the fine arts
as "mimesis", or imitation.
For two millennia, imitation has formed
the basis of our aesthetic concepts.
Each of these books -
and I've read many of them -
tries to imitate real life,
making it accessible
and comprehensible to us.
The same applies to music,
to dance, all art forms.
But...
- Art replicates the visible world.
It amuses us, it educates us,
it enlightens us,
and forms an ideal image of man.
The question is, however,
what can we take from this image of man?
This is the dadaist Hugo Ball,
reciting his poem "Karawane".
I'd like to read it to you.
Please, hear me out.
And so on.
You want me to respond?
- Please do.
You're saying art replicates the world.
Dada does the same.
These poems reflect the current soundscape,
the cacophony of the trenches,
the metropolis, the industrialised world.
They're incomprehensible.
The poets show how language is perverted.
Language is the most powerful weapon
of the educated establishment.
But language has been destroyed,
rendered impossible by journalism,
misappropriated by the elite,
who use our language
to stoke nationalism and glorify war.
What's wrong with
being proud of your country?
What's wrong with just being a person?
Not German, not French.
I know you're a humanist, Father,
but can't you see how nationalism leads
to imperialism, racism and anti-Semitism,
which makes your Empire
a radical denial of your own humanism.
Are you calling me an anti-Semite?
- No.
No, or you wouldn't have married Mum.
We can argue about art
but not about politics.
Nationalism is wrong.
And Bolshevism is right, is it?
Those uneducated yokels,
who have the audacity
to think they could rule the world.
If you want to talk about Aristotle...
For him, citizenship
wasn't defined by someone's heritage,
but by their political contribution.
Yes, that's correct.
But Aristotle also says it's better
for women to be dominated by men,
as men possess
superior powers of judgement.
He obviously didn't know you.
I'm glad this ridiculous school hasn't
completely ruined your faculty of thought.
I'm sorry, but I don't understand.
What exactly do you mean?
Art doesn't replicate the visible world,
it makes it visible.
But why would art
function differently today
than it has
throughout the history of mankind?
The world has changed.
She prevailed against the old man.
Sorry.
Christ,
don't die on me.
To let you print your lies?
Forget it Stine.
It's late anyway.
You see,
Dörte did not only find the strength
to overcome her patronizing father.
At the end of the first semester Itten
asked the students to criticize themselves.
Yes, you heard right.
Some of you won't be able
to continue your studies.
It's up to you to tell me who.
Breuer doesn't deserve it.
Are you mad? You can't even hold a brush.
No... Stop it, stop...
This can't be right, Master Itten.
Gropius promised us a community,
a secret society,
intended to preserve a core of beliefs.
That's how he put it.
This is wrong.
Thank you, Miss Helm.
Thank you, you're right.
And that's the final lesson
of your preliminary course:
Never forget we're a community.
At my school under my education
Dörte Helm became an
independent artist
and a liberated woman
and that is the truth.
Write that, Stine.
Sure.
Just one more thing: Why
was Dörte exmatriculated?
I have to admit you're well prepared.
Thank you, Walter.
So why did you kick her out?
Desperate times take desperate measures.
Gunta, can you hear that?
Yes, what...
Volunteer corps soldiers.
What's going on?
Gunta, soldiers?
- Yes, I think so.
Julia, come on!
What is this?
- Volunteer soldiers?
Are they Kapp's men?
Out of the way.
Go back inside.
Where are they going?
Shall we have a look?
- Better not.
What a hero.
You, get lost.
Let's go have a look.
I'll get Feininger's camera.
Get off the street!
Stand back... Door is open!
Right, men. Move it!
Move it!
You can't go...
Minister for Education Greil?
Who's asking?
Jacobsen, Captain
of the Naumburg Light Infantry.
I've come to arrest you
and transfer you to the garrison prison.
Arrest me?
- Yes.
Over in Berlin, the Ehrhardt Marine Corps
under General von Lüttwitz
has occupied the government quarter.
President Ebert
and the government have fled.
Wolfgang Kapp is the new Chancellor.
Kapp has waged a coup?
You must come with us, please.
Citizens of Weimar,
the government has abdicated.
The government has abdicated.
What?
Come on, faster.
- Move, hurry.
Keep walking.
Get out of here. Move it.
Get lost.
A little urgency.
Alma.
- Yes?
Where's Manon?
- At the neighbour's. Why?
A military coup.
- What?
"Government has abdicated.
"The new authority's
directives must be adhered to.
"Commander-in-chief Major General Hagenberg
will relentlessly quash any attempts
to disturb public order
or instigate strikes."
You must take action
to protect your school.
But what can I do?
Listen, once the communists
among your students take action,
- if they haven't already -
the military will shut you down.
This is where your statement
at the citizens committee comes in:
"The Bauhaus is apolitical."
What if something happens to me?
Then something good
will have come from the coup after all.
Marcel, I'll go check the back.
Long live the republic!
Come on.
- Quickly.
Johannes?
- Gunta.
Dörte! Marcel!
Come quick!
- Why?
We need to leave.
Auerbach and the communists...
There he is.
Down with Kapp!
To the People's House.
To the People's House!
To the People's House!
Get out! Move it!
In there!
Hurry! Faster! Let's go!
Minister Greil.
Good to see you're unscathed.
- Unscathed, yes...
Thank you.
Apart from my belief
in the superiority of social democracy.
Comrades, it's time to proclaim
the Republic of Councils.
In the Vogtland, the anarchist Max Hölzl
is already rallying his supporters
to rise up against the military coup.
Comrades, the time has come
to put into practice
the radical societal change...
that failed during
the half-hearted revolution of 1918/19.
This means nationalising
important sectors of the economy!
Abolishing the Reichswehr armed forces!
Comrades,
this is the moment
when we fight for the revolution!
To arms!
To arms, comrades!
To arms!
To arms!
This is it.
Get your arms.
Marcel!
This is it.
- I'm not fighting.
Why?
- Johannes, you think this is a game?
Did you see those soldiers' eyes?
They're desperate to fight for Germany.
I'm sure your Dad would agree.
I just meant they'll show no mercy.
I don't want to watch you die.
Dörte...
There's a time to study
and a time to fight.
I'm here to study.
You coming?
- Yep. I'm just sorting the pamphlets.
Guys,
if the coup succeeds,
they'll shut down our school.
Dörte, can you at least
print some pamphlets?
The unions want to call a general strike.
We have printers,
but we need someone who's good at it.
Are you insane?
Dörte! Don't do it, Dörte.
Gunta's right.
Gropius will expel you.
Because of a few pamphlets?
I just won't get caught.
Dörte, you're crazy.
Dörte... It's way too dangerous.
It's quiet, they're all
in the lecture hall, we can carry on.
Johannes, the Masters Council
must now speak with one voice.
For that we'd need to share an opinion.
I look forward to your speech.
We need a revolution.
Director...
Quiet... Quiet!
Please, I don't need to explain
the situation,
it's perfectly obvious to all of us.
Once again,
Germany's political future is at stake,
and with it,
our future here at the Bauhaus.
The rule I decreed some time ago
is valid now more than ever.
Any political activity
at this school is forbidden.
We won't accept
your ban on political agitation.
We don't fight
against the left or the right,
we shape the future by other means,
through the medium of art.
We can't say how this coup will end,
but end it will,
and our actions will be judged.
We're being watched, so let me remind you,
no political activities, please.
We must take action or...
Anyone who takes a political side
will be expelled.
What?
You're an opportunist!
You're welcome to study
at a different school.
How do you think right-wing nationalists
will respond to socialist street fighters?
With violence, with soldiers,
forcing a war
they're familiar with and can win.
Germans like bowing to authority,
they believe in the language of force.
But I see something in you
that really scares
the ageing, bourgeois conservatives:
They're scared
of inquisitive free spirits.
They're scared
of cosmopolitan Jews and confident women.
They're scared
because you think differently,
because you are different.
Trust me.
I'll make sure
you are this country's future.
Bravo.
- Bravo.
Come.
Quiet.
GENERAL STRIKE
In here. Let's go.
You're doing more?
- Yes, a crate for the People's House.
Good.
- Be careful.
Go.
What's this?
GENERAL STRIKE
AGAINST THE KAPP COUP
Out, now!
How many did they print?
No idea,
but I know what school's responsible.
Hurry, Gropius caught me.
- What?
Go before he sees you too.
Or else all this
will have been in vain. Hurry.
Keep still now.
Press this against it. Press hard.
You'll be all right.
Johannes, what happened?
- Dörte...
Herfurth shot me.
The bastard.
Did you get them printed?
- Yes.
The others are taking them all over town.
Dörte, it looks amazing.
- Gropius caught me.
Why stay at a school
that won't take a stand?
Here... We're in telegraphic contact
with all major cities.
This is a list
of Kapp supporters in Rostock.
You chose the right side.
I caught a student
printing posters earlier today.
Will you take action?
- I have to.
Who was it?
- You don't know her.
Breakfast.
General strike.
A general strike.
- What?
Kapp has ordered
a tough crackdown on any strike.
This will escalate. There'll be bloodshed.
Comrades.
The general strike is proving powerful.
All over Germany,
public order has been disrupted.
We brought this about.
Kapp and his supporters realise
they can't rule from the top down.
We must fight on!
I hear your calls for a revolt.
But people are also asking
why we're settling for a blockade,
rather than joining our comrades-in-arms
in fighting the right.
Like those in the Ruhr area,
or here in the Vogtland, under Max Hölzl.
I'll tell you why, comrades.
There's no need for bloodshed.
We can defeat our enemy
through silent resistance.
Why suffer further casualties
when we can end this bad dream
with just our solidarity?
This meeting is terminated.
Everyone present will be searched.
These are union premises,
you will leave immediately!
They killed nine people that day.
I understood: Dörte was fighting,
but
she didn't know when to stop.
She never stopped.
The coup is over!
The coup is over.
The volunteer corps have stood down.
The coup is over.
The general strike brought
the whole country to a standstill.
The ministries in Berlin
refused to follow Kapp.
You can't govern by yourself.
I need to check
the negotiations in parliament.
There are no negotiations.
Kapp has fled, Ebert's returning to Berlin.
The nightmare's over.
What, without any bloodshed?
- No, dozens of casualties.
Nine were killed at the People's House,
it sounded horrible.
Have you heard anything?
- Not yet.
Do you have anything more to say?
All right, you can leave.
Please ask Miss Helm to come in.
Dörte, you're next.
Please sit down.
You know why you're here, don't you?
Contrary to school regulations,
you printed political propaganda.
You're faced with expulsion.
May I?
What even is this?
Is it supposed to be a flash?
It's an abstraction.
A flash, or a force that erupts,
like a cry of anguish
against the injustice of repression.
That kind of thing.
And you designed it?
Will that make it worse?
Who knows, I can't do any more
than throw you out.
Yes, it's my design.
But I only had that night to do it.
Do you like it?
You'll hear from me, Miss Helm.
Would you send in Auerbach?
Johannes? You're next.
Aesthetically, she did everything right.
- Politically too.
There you are. Come, have a seat.
Please sit down, I don't want a fight.
But I don't want martyrs either,
you understand?
I'll concede an amnesty
for political statements during the coup.
But from now on I want quiet.
I watched my comrades
dying in front of my eyes.
And you want quiet?
Yes, Auerbach, I do.
If you don't like that,
you should consider leaving this school.
Gropius is a total conformist.
I'm fed up with his double standards.
To me, it seemed
he wasn't taking it seriously.
They'll all be at the funeral tomorrow,
including Gropius.
Faking sorrow for the dead,
but they're our dead.
Let me tell you something, Dörte.
We could have different lives.
We should have different lives.
Like at Monte Verità.
Life as part of a true community.
As a commune.
This here is all just fake.
But what will he do about us?
Did he say anything?
Johannes, we're ready.
Come.
And we have more of them.
Very good.
What are you planning?
A protest. At the funeral procession.
Then you leave him no choice
but to throw you out.
He will anyway.
- Did he say that?
Yes.
And me too?
Yes, you too.
There are better places, Dörte.
Much better ones.
Gunta, let's look for the others.
Come.
Gunta.
Soldiers are murderers,
whether they're in uniform or not.
We see you, Dr Herfurth. We see you.
We see you, Dr Herfurth.
The Bauhaus sure is apolitical.
The Council has unanimously decided...
Not unanimously.
The Council has decided...
The students who defied the ban
on political agitation
will be expelled from the school.
They will be deregistered
with immediate effect.
That's all. Let's go.
You did the right thing.
You were consistent.
Here...
My reply to Werfel.
May I ask what you wrote to him?
Nothing you wouldn't also wish for.
I hope you'll be happy with him.
Manon will visit you as often as possible.
That would be nice.
Dörte...
If you had a choice,
would you still move
to a commune with Auerbach?
Talk to Gropius one last time.
I'll never talk to him again.
This is the start of something new, Dörte.
Dörte...
Dörte.
Thoughts are but free
No one can guess them
They are flying by
Like nocturnal shadows
No person can know them
No hunter can shoot them
With powder and lead
Thoughts are but free
Wait!
- Hilde!
Wait for me.
Wait!
- Hilde.
I'm coming after all.
But always quietly
As is deemed becoming
My wish, my desire
No one can deny me
So it will always be
Thoughts are but free