Genius (2017–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Einstein: Chapter One - full transcript

(birds singing)

Good morning, Herr Minister.

Good morning, Eric. To
the Reichstag, please.

(groans softly)

(trolley bell clangs)

(engine revving)

What are they doing?

Eric!

Walther Rathenau,

Minister of

- Foreign Affairs for the Weimar Republic?
- Eric,



- drive!
- Death to the Elders of Zion.

(groans)

(yelling, groans)

(yelling)

(groans)

And this is for ruining Germany,

Jew pig.

All right.

(indistinct chatter, groaning)

(explosion)

Go, go, go, go!

(woman moaning)

I have a proposition to make.

Not now, Albert.



It is an unorthodox idea, but...

- Please be quiet.
- (moans)

(moaning)

(man moaning, bell tolling)

But crazier thoughts
of mine have worked

- in the past.
- Pick me up!

(both moaning)

Oh, God.

- Oh, God! Oh, God!
- God would

most likely disapprove of this
idea, but I would convince him.

(panting)

Move in with me, Betty.

(moaning)

(moaning)

You haven't given me

an answer.

You're late for your lecture.

My lecture can wait.

Fine.

Since you have so much time,
shall we address your schedule?

The Telegraph, Life Magazine

and the Los Angeles Times have
all requested interviews, and

please don't forget
you invited Minister Rathenau

to dinner on Sunday.

Betty,

move in with me.

You have a wife.

Whom I adore.

You're insane.

- No.
- (bells tolling)

I'm quite rational, actually.

Monogamy is not natural.

It is a construct
of religious authority.

And a foolish faith in
authority, my dear Betty,

is the worst enemy of truth.

Truth being that rules
don't apply to you?

I love Mozart and Bach.

I love the Swiss Alps
and the Baltic Sea.

Why can't I love you and Elsa?

For a man who is an
expert on the universe,

you don't know the first
thing about people, do you?

No, no, no.

Forgive me, Betty.

Perhaps...

triangular geometry is not
as simple as I'd like it to be.

(phone ringing)

Professor Einstein's office.

Yeah, one moment, please.

It's Mileva Maric.

I can't.

Not now.

I apologize. The professor is busy.

May I take a message?

- Yes, Frau.
- (door opens)

She says it's urgent.

As you said, I'm late for my lecture.

EINSTEIN: What is...

time?

A deceptively simple question,

yet it is the key to
understanding relativity.

It is also the reason
my hair is going gray.

(laughter)

When we describe motion,

we do so as a function of time:

ten meters per second,
100 miles per hour.

But a mathematical description
of velocity is moot

unless we can define "time."

Is time universal?

In other words, is there
an audible tick-tock

throughout the galaxy?

A master clock, so to speak,

forging ahead like Mozart's metronome?

The answer, my friends,

is no.

Time is not absolute.

In fact, for us believing
physicists, the distinction

between the past, present

and future is but a stubborn illusion.

(people murmuring)

A lot to consider, I know.

I know.

(laughter)

But understanding time is essential

to understanding relativity.

Now,

I want you all to close your eyes.

Not to worry. I don't bite.

But I am on the lookout for a new pen.

(laughter)

Go on.

Close your eyes.

To truly grasp the idea of time,

we must take a step back
and ask: what is light?

So, journey with me to the Sun.

(whooshing)

(whooshing, tinkling)

Light travels from the Sun to
the Earth through space, yes?

When I was your age,
I wanted to know how

can something... light...
travel through nothing...

space? Let us isolate a light beam

and travel alongside it,
but let us go faster.

Are you there with me?

Faster. Faster!

(whooshing)

What is time?

Herr Einstein, wake up!

I wasn't sleeping, sir. I was thinking.

Oh, really?

About what, exactly?

The secrets of the cosmos, I suppose.

I suggest you think
about trigonometry instead.

With your eyes open.

And sit up!

Laws of Sines and Cosines.

ALL: C-squared equals

A-squared plus B-squared
subtract two-AB-cosine-C.

TEACHER: Area of a triangle.

ALL: Area equals C-squared
Sine-A Sine-B over two-Sine-C.

(clock ticking)

What is the... (muffled distant speech)

...differential equation?

Herr Einstein, are you still too busy

contemplating the secrets of the cosmos

to solve this equation?

Oh, no, sir. I-I've already solved it.

Leave. Now.

On what offense?

Your mere presence

spoils the respect of the class for me!

- That is not an objective reason!
- Out!

The natural log of a constant
multiplied by X equals

the natural log of one plus V-squared.

And since V equals

Y over X, that gives us

the final function:
X-squared plus Y-squared

minus C-X-cubed equals zero.

And speaking truthfully, sir,

your mere presence spoils
my respect for the future

of Prussian mathematics.

Out.

(rhythmic drumming, children shouting)

(children shouting)

(child blows a raspberry)

MAN: Boots, pay attention.

Well?

What do you have to say for yourself?

How do people get pleasure by

marching in step? It makes me think

they've been given their big
brains only by mistake.

Turn around!

Look at me.

I want you to listen to
me very carefully, son.

Rebellion will get you nowhere in life.

You step on enough toes,

and I promise you,
one day you will trip.

I'm not going to apologize
for thinking that...

That's exactly what you're going to do.

The headmaster is willing
to give you one last chance,

so I want you to go in there
and say you're sorry.

(bell tolling)

Wait. No, Father, please.

No, I can't.

- You need an education.
- I agree!

But blind regurgitation

and rote memorization
is not an education.

Let me study on my own, and I
promise I'll make you proud.

How exactly will you do that, huh?

Look around you. What do you see?

- I see my impudent son.
- Yes, but

what am I made of? Matter.

And what keeps my feet on the ground?
Gravity.

Oh, Albert,

I don't have time for... This is not...

Time, yes, that, too!
And light and magnetism.

These invisible forces that
nobody fully understands.

Where do they come from?
What are they made of?

And why do they act as they do?

I want to be the one who
solves those mysteries.

Solving mysteries is not a vocation.

But it is. I'm-I'm
going to be a physicist.

No, not without a degree you won't!

And if you get thrown out again,
I will not be here to save you.

I don't need saving, Father.
No, I-I don't... mean that.

I mean, I will not... be here at all.

What are you talking about?

Your mother, sister
and I are moving to Italy.

Italy? I don't understand.

- Why?
- Well...

big demand for street lamps in Milan.

But what about your business here?

Our business is bankrupt.

Why didn't you tell me?

It is not your concern.

- Let me come with you. Please.
- Albert. Albert.

You don't speak Italian.

How would you expect to go to school?

I'll learn Italian. I'll Le...

- I'll learn faster than anyone has ever
- Albert.

Learned it before. So...

- So you're abandoning me?
- No

I'm looking out for your future.

It's time you learn to be independent

and take responsibility for yourself.

You will live with your cousins

until your studies are complete.

Now go back to school.

HERMANN: Pauline!

Maja! The train will not wait

- for your hair to be pinned up.
- Coming.

Coming already.

Albert, I left you two roast hens,

green beans and potatoes.

Oh, and I ordered extra milk delivery

to your aunt's house,

- so drink plenty. Come.
- I won't forget to eat, Mother.

(sighs)

Oh

I also left you

a few extra marks.

Don't tell your father.

It's not his money, anyway.

Make us proud.

HERMANN: Come on, now, we must hurry.

(sighs) This is awful.

I know. How will I ever sleep

without your incessant snoring?

(chuckles)

(sniffles)

Promise me you'll write.

Of course, Maja.

Driver.

Hyah.

TEACHER: Derivative
of logarithmic functions.

CLASS: The X derivative

of natural log X

is one over X.

MAN: One,

two, three, four.

Hydrogen.

- One.
- Carbon

Twelve.

- TEACHER: Lithium.
- CLASS: Seven.

TEACHER: Nitrogen.

CLASS: Fourteen. J'aille.

- Tu ailles.
- Come on, come on.

Il aille. Nous allions.

Vous alliez.

Ils aillent.

- Double angle formulas.
- (whistle blows)

CLASS: Sine 2 theta

equals 2 sine theta...

(grunts)

- ...cosine theta.
- Cosine.

CLASS: Cosine 2 theta equals cosine...

No!

I beg your pardon,

Herr Einstein?

I am feeling sick.

I must go.

(panting)

(exhales)

(watch ticking)

(ticking continues)

60 beats per minute.

- Normal.
- Take my temperature.

I already did. It's normal.

- Then take it again.
- Albert.

I'm feeling feverish. I may faint.

You're fine.

Then I must have a rash somewhere.

Albert, what's going on?

I'm not asking as your doctor,

but as a friend of your family.

I must leave Germany, Dr. Talmud.

Uh-huh.

Your father wants you to stay.

(sighs)
My father doesn't understand me.

Chin up.

It's only two more years.

Maybe to you two years
feels like the blink of an eye,

but to me, it's an eternity.

I don't mean that literally, of course.

Everybody knows that time can't
move at two different speeds.

What do you want me to do? Hmm?

Deem me medically
unfit to finish school.

For what reason?

The Prussian malaise?

Nervous breakdown will do.

(train chugging)

(train whistle blows)

(woman speaking Italian)

Spelt, milk, and do not forget the...

Eggs. Yes, please, I heard you.

I'm late. Eggs, eggs, eggs.

I can't afford to be late.
I always ha...

Buongiorno, Papa.

That is the extent of
my Italian thus far.

You were right. It is a
difficult language to grasp.

Why are you not in school?

I've decided to go

to Zurich Polytechnic instead.

Zurich Polytechnic?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You cannot expect to enter university

- without finishing your studies.
- They'll admit me...

if I pass the entrance exam in June.

I-I was hoping
I could stay here with...

with you and Mother and Maja

- while I study.
- (sighs)

Hermann, who are you talking to?

- Hello, Mother.
- Oh.

Albert.

- Hermann, let the boy in.
- No.

He will go back to Munich immediately

and finish his studies.

- And that is an order.
- I'm sorry, Father,

but I'm not going back to Germany.

Ever again.

EINSTEIN: All right,
let us all open our eyes...

...and return to Germany.

Here is our traveling light beam.

Now, I will ask you again.

How can something... light...

travel through nothing... space?

It cannot,

Herr Professor.

Cannot. Good.

Therefore,
if light is only a wave, then...

Space is not empty?

Exactly.

So just as sound waves
travel through air,

light waves must travel through
some sort of medium in space.

Scientists called it the ether,

an invisible

but all-encompassing substance

pervading the universe.

I believed in it when I was your age.

Trust me.

I knew everything.

(laughter)

But as it turns out,

I was wrong.

(door opens)

Walther Rathenau is dead.

- (alarmed chatter)
- Assassinated in the street.

(thunder rumbles)

EINSTEIN: I just saw him yesterday.

He was coming to dinner on Sunday.

(phone rings)

I'll get it.

That's quite all right, Fraulein.

If you don't mind,

I'd like some time
alone with my husband.

(ringing continues)

Why did you send her away?

I don't want to be
disturbed by the press.

I need Betty to answer the phone.

I know why you need Betty.

(ringing continues)

And that is not the press. It's Mileva.

She's been calling all morning.

Why should I talk to her?

She brings us nothing
but misery and pain.

We have enough of that as it is.

(ringing stops)

Where are you going?

My study.

Please don't.

Don't what?

Do what you always do.

Hide in your work.

Your friend just died.

You need to grieve.

Machine gun...

and grenade.

What sort of animals would do this?

You know exactly what sort of animals.

Death to the Elders of Zion!

Hold.

(panting)

We die for our ideals!

(shouts in German)

(shouting in German)

(screams)

(pounding on door)

The revolution is coming,

and Germany will rise again.

(knocking)

Good day, Frau Einstein.

Captain Muller. Berlin Police.

Is your husband at home?

Good day, Herr Professor.

It's an honor to meet you,

though I regret the circumstances.

I understand you and
Minister Rathenau were close.

We were. Thank you.

You may have heard that
we located and killed

Minister Rathenau's assassins.

Who were they?

The members of a fringe group

called the Organization Consul.

What is your definition
of "fringe," Captain?

A hundred members?

Ten members? A thousand?

Elsa.

You're not here to
offer your condolences,

are you, Captain?

No, sir, I'm not.

In the possession of the assassins,

we found a list of targets.

Minister Rathenau's
name was on that list,

and so was yours, Herr Professor.

These men are part of
a larger movement.

I'm afraid it may not be safe
for you to remain in Berlin.

I'll call the movers in the morning.

They can have the
apartment packed by Friday.

We can go to the Baltic
Sea for the summer.

That would give us a chance to consider

a more permanent option.

Albert, are you even listening to me?

We're not going anywhere, Elsa.

Did you hear what the man said?
You're on a list.

The killers are dead.

- And they have accomplices.
- No

I will not kowtow to bullies.

And I will not sit by and wait
for fascists to kill my husband.

I want to leave, Albert. Please.

You don't even like Germany.

This is not about Germany.

Elsa, this is about my work,

my colleagues at the Academy,

our friends, my sailboat,

this apartment. Our life.

It's all here. It's home.

That's what Walther
Rathenau thought, too.

Walther was killed because
he was a politician.

I'm only a scientist.

And you're both Jews.

HABER: Where on God's
Earth would you go?

I have teaching offers abroad.

Oxford. Princeton.

Ha! I've known you for
over a decade, Albert.

You despise British formality,

you despise American exceptionalism.

I also despise

German nationalism.

So do most Germans.

The country has declared
a national holiday

for Walther's funeral
tomorrow, for God's sake.

Elsa is overreacting.

Do you know what I find extraordinary

about you, Fritz Haber?

It might be my brilliant mind

or my scintillating
wit, but knowing you,

you're not about to flatter me.

That you see yourself as one
of them, and not as one of us.

One of us?

You talk like a Zionist.

No, I'm a realist.

And I'm a German patriot,

a proud war veteran,
and a devout Christian.

Really, Fritz?

You're proud of your military service?

You may have changed your
religion, but don't think

for a second you can
change your heritage.

Is that how you really see me?

As some sort of fraud?

No, no. It's not how I
see you that matters.

It's how men like this Adolf
Hitler character see you.

Adolf Hitler is a loud-mouthed
art school reject

with a handful of supporters

in country of 60 million.

He'll be gone in a year.

Tell that to the esteemed
Professor Lenard.

Read it to me.

"Albert Einstein

"should hereby be barred

"from attending the annual
conference for German science

"on grounds that
his theory of relativity

offends against the
common sense of scientists."

I'm quite certain it took
him all the restraint

he could muster not
to refer to relativity

as a Jewish theory.

Forget Lenard.

- He's just jealous of your success.
- Perhaps.

But look how many
others have signed it.

People are listening to him, Fritz.

He's dangerous.

MAN: Please, Professor
Lenard, I beg of you.

It's only one day of classes.

I couldn't agree more.

That's why I'm choosing to teach.

But a national day of
mourning has been declared.

The University of
Heidelberg must respect it.

A national day of mourning
for a Bolshevik Jew

who bankrupted our nation
and left behind a generation

of jobless young men? No, thank you.

The death of Walther Rathenau
should be cause for celebration,

not mourning.

- Professor.
- No.

This funeral is a garish spectacle

led by left-wing radicals
like Albert Einstein

to paint German patriots as criminals.

Philipp, I'm begging you.

As your friend.

Don't let old skirmishes
cloud your vision.

If that is what you think this is, sir,

then we are not friends.

(heavy footsteps in unison)

MAN: Stand!

Gentlemen,

there is a new war festering.

A war against reason,

against clarity,

against this very institution.

Germany and German
physics are under threat.

Quite the turnout for a Jew,

wouldn't you say?

LENARD: Our forefathers
based their science

on experimentation and fact.

Not artificial formulae

based on arbitrary definition

or publicity-seeking fabrications

of space and time.

Einstein.

(people muttering)

- Einstein.
- Einstein?

MAN: Einstein.

LENARD: This foreign influence has been

gaining momentum for far too long.

And it is your job,

as the future of this great nation,

to protect our Aryan respect

for empirical observation.

Abstruse theories devoid of reality

have no place in our field.

If we do not fight against them,
I promise you,

the foreigner will spread
through these hallowed halls

like a virus. And before
we have time to react,

German physics will be no more.

It is time to stand up, gentlemen.

Stand up for Germany!

(students exclaiming)

Excuse me. Dr. Einstein?

We would just like to say

that we are deeply sorry
for the loss of your friend.

And we want you to know
that we are proud

to call men such as Minister
Rathenau and yourself

our compatriots.

Nice to meet you, Professor Einstein.

It's an honor, sir.

Rathenau's killers are German heroes!

Rathenau's killers are German heroes!

Rathenau's killers are German heroes!

- Rathenau's killers are German heroes!
- We should leave. Now.

No.

We're not going home
until the funeral is over.

And we're not leaving Germany.

Albert.

If we leave...

...they win.

...German heroes!

Killers are German heroes!

d d

Herr Einstein?

- I am Professor...
- Weber.

Heinrich Weber. Chair of the
physics department, I know.

I... I read your paper
on heat conduction.

It seems you have read
quite a few papers,

young man.

You passed the mathematics
and science sections

with flying colors.

Where did you learn all of this?

- I am self-taught, Herr Professor.
- Ah.

That makes sense.

Why is that?

Because you failed everything else.

Literature, zoology,

botany, French, politics,

to be specific.

That's... that's quite a few subjects.

Indeed.

Oh, my father...

Can you make an exception, sir?
I-I only want to study physics.

No, that is not how a university works.

But literature is a pastime.

I-I've never been to a zoo in my life.

Botany I place under
the same sub-section

as literature... bourgeois.

And French, well...

pourquoi, sir?

You forgot about politics.

Politics are frivolous.
They're only a matter

of present concern.
But a mathematical equation,

Professor, well... that stands forever.

I tell you what,

I am going to bend the rules

and invite you to audit my classes

and to work in my laboratory.

Will I be an official student?

No.

I need to earn a degree, sir.

Because without one,

I'll never be taken
seriously as a physicist.

And I'll never get an
office like this, will I?

There is a good school

25 miles west of here. I know a teacher

who will take you in.
You study for a year,

well, you go to a zoo,
you learn some French,

and then you'll come back here

and you'll retake the exam.

I won't disappoint you, sir.

(indistinct conversations)

- YOUNG WOMAN: Get the door!
- YOUNG MAN: No, you get the door!

- GIRL: I'm doing homework!
- YOUNG WOMAN: Liar, you're in the bathroom!

- GIRL: I have cramps!
- BOY: She always says that.

YOUNG WOMAN:
Everyone relax. I'll get it.

Hello. May I help you?

Yes. I... I am...

Well, spit it out, then.

Buzz off, you gnat.

Mother! Marie called me a gnat!

I must apologize.

MATHIAS: Oh, my God.

- Marie has a boyfriend.
- What?

- In her dreams. - JULIUS: Paul!
- I'm so sorry.

JULIUS: Who are you?

Marie's boyfriend.

Mathias, shut it.

Marie has a boyfriend? Since when?

Do you have brothers and sisters?

ROSA: Anna, you said
you couldn't do dishes

because you had cramps.

I do, but look A real boy.

Who are you?

I already asked him.

Yes. Right. I-I am...

JOST: Albert Einstein.

Your reputation precedes you.

Disobedient son,

perennial truant,

unrepentant flouter of authority.

Please, please, sir, I can explain.

I'm not chastising you.

I'm congratulating you.

We Wintelers respect a true rebel.

You are welcome here
for as long as you like.

Thank you, sir.

Julius, Show him in.

Quick. (laughs)

Thank you.

Darling, Albert is here.

MAN: And I quote...

(indistinct conversation)

...understand the things of
nature as philosophers,

and not to stare at them in
astonishment like fools,

are soon considered
heretical and impious.

JULIUS: Oh, please, Baruch
Spinoza is a buffoon,

not a philosopher.

At least Descartes was a military man.

Oh, here we go again.

Piss off, Anna.

Julius, language.

Fine.

Albert, eat.

JULIUS: But did you know
that Spinoza never taught

a day in his life?

He was a lowly optical lens grinder.

Why should someone's
vocation define his intellect?

- Well said, darling.
- Thank you.

Fine, fine, but his
treatise on God is hearsay.

"Natura Naturans?" Please.

And what does it even mean?

It means God and Nature
are one and the same.

I am a certified teacher now,
if you need a Latin tutor.

- (laughing)
- Very funny.

Albert may take you up on that.

- I will?
- (women laugh)

Professor Weber tells me
you need a little help

in the humanities.

Is that why you are so silent tonight?

My opinions are usually unwelcome.

Not here, they aren't. Speak.

Yes, speak, Albert. We want to hear it.

Speak. Albert, speak.

Yes. We really want to hear it.

From a scientific perspective,

what Marie said is very exciting...

- and-and, well, funny enough,
- "Very exciting."

it's an idea I've been
considering for a while now.

"Natura Naturans."

Everything is connected.

Nature isn't a product of God,

nature is God.

And if we suppose that's true,
well, then, we must conclude

the universe isn't some
mystical netherworld

outside our grasp of understanding.

From the smallest molecule
to the largest galaxy...

every question must have
a definable answer.

And, well,

I intend to find those answers.

JULIUS: Well, that is the
most hedonistic thing

I have heard all night.

Show us a bit of respect, Julius.

- Julius, don't be rude.
- There are no more potatoes.

Thank you so much.

d d

Newton's second law of motion.

You all know it,

but as we delve deeper
into Newtonian mechanics,

I need you to more than "know" it.

I need you to be able to see it.

So when I ask, what is acceleration?

Don't immediately think "numbers."

Instead, close your eyes...

Good.

And imagine a ball

being shot across the sky.

Now imagine an identical
ball in outer space

racing with the ball on Earth,
with the same force applied.

Which ball would win a race?

You don't need to raise your
hand to speak here, Albert.

Oh. (clears throat) Really? Well...

Uh, the ball in outer space would win

'cause it's travelling in a vacuum.

But I have another question.

Go on.

Well,

now I'm imagining

that the ball is traveling
in deep space...

...with...

...with no stars or planets around it.

Acceleration is the
derivative of velocity

with respect to time.

How do we know that the
ball is moving at all

if there's nothing to
compare its motions to?

In other words...

what is time?

And for that matter...

what is space?

Newton's Principia, Volume One:

"Absolute, true, and
mathematical time, of itself

and from its own nature, flows..."

"Equitably without relation
to anything external."

Time and space are absolute, I know.

TEACHER: Yes, well,
then, let's move on.

But when pressed on the
subject of absoluteness,

Newton said,
"The Deity endures forever,

"and by existing always and everywhere,

He constitutes duration and space."

Which, in short, is saying... (laughs)

"I have no idea, but
God must, so there."

Albert.

I-I know. I sh... I should go.

Sit down.

Well, it looks like we are going

to have an interesting year.

So let us move on to the next chapter.

When we are looking at Newton
and some of his other ideas...

Here you are, sir.

Thank you.

"The surest way to corrupt a youth

"is to hold in higher esteem

"those who think alike

than those who think differently."

Nietzsche?

Excellent.

"If you step on enough toes,
one day you'll trip."

Confucius?

- Close. My father.
- (laughs)

MARIE: Albert.

A letter for you. Looks official.

I don't believe it.

What is it?

My application to renounce
my German citizenship.

It's been approved.

I'm officially stateless.

MARIE: So now you have no passport?

That seems reckless.

Why would you do that?

Because nationalism
is an infantile disease.

The measles of mankind.

Where on Earth did you
get such an idea?

Papa, you didn't.

I'm proud of you, Albert.

Now you are a citizen of the world.

- Let us celebrate.
- Sorry, that will have to wait.

Albert and I have work to do.

"And though she be but little,
she is fierce."

William Shakespeare.

Good luck.

(church bell tolls)

(Marie speaking French)

Are you listening to me?

Of course.

You were sleeping.

I wasn't. I promise.

I was having the most
wonderful thought.

Oh, yes? And what was that?

It's been bothering me
for over a year now.

How does something...
travel through nothing?

What are you talking about, Albert?

I... I-I imagined I was riding

alongside a light beam.

Guess what happened?

I have no idea.

Let me show you.

Come.

Ah...

Come on!

Come!

Imagine I'm a light beam

traveling to Earth. Now catch me!

How fast must we go?

About 300,000 kilometers a second.

Albert! You are mad!

No, I'm a wave.

Traveling through the ether.

Come on!

- Come on!
- (Marie laughs)

Catch me!

d d

As you catch up to me,

the strangest thing happens:

I appear to slow down. Am I right?

d d

But here is the best part...

When you are traveling the speed

of light alongside the wave... me...

I appear...

frozen in time.

Is that it?

Well, so far, yes.

d d

d d

(distant shouting)

(shouting continues)

ELSA: Have you read this?

Yes.

Hitler didn't win.

ELSA: He won 230 seats.

That's almost a majority.

Elsa, please.

Not now.

(sighs): Albert, you've
been saying "not now"

for ten years.

You know why?

Because my old friend Sir Isaac Newton

was really right about some things.

An object at rest really
does tend to stay at rest.

Albert, this is not a joke.

Where are you going?

- I need tobacco.
- No.

I-It's not safe. I'll send someone.

I'm an able man.

And I am scared.

When Walther was murdered,

you chose to stay, and I accepted.

It was brave

and defiant.

But this is different.

Enough already, Albert.

Everything is fine.

Hitler did not win.

(vehicle engine running)

MAN: One loaf per family.

Move along. One loaf per family.

Keep moving.

Afternoon, Ernst.

I took your advice and
listened to Erik Satie.

Little too French for
me, but you were right.

His ability to evoke complex emotions

with simplicity is remarkable.

Though I must admit I am surprised

that a Wagnerian such as yourself

should enjoy experimental minimalism.

Is everything all right, Ernst?

Yes, Professor. Of course.

Well, that will be all for today.

Elsa has me cutting back.

It is only because

my customers requested them.

Everyone has a choice, Ernst.

HERMANN: Oh, no.

- Damn it.
- Oh, no, no, no, no.

Dear God, Jakob, not now.

Patience.

No, no, no. I have to
deliver this by Monday

or I don't get paid.

I'll fix it.

Your induced voltage is too high.

Thank you, nephew.

That is obvious.

Energy equals magnetic field
times length of conductor.

Times velocity of conductor.

I don't need a physics lesson.

I need to get the damn rotor
spinning at the correct speed.

So why not shorten the
length of the conductor

instead of trying to change
the speed of the rotor?

How the hell do we do that?

Wire cutters.

Try it now.

I think the patient will survive.

(Hermann chuckles)

You should have seen him, Pauline!

He's here for one week...

one week... and he fixes
all our problems.

(Pauline and Hermann chuckle)

We should have school vacations

- more often.
- (chuckles)

Albert. Albert.

I'm very proud of you.

Thank you, Father.

How is Marie, darling?

Wonderful.

She sends her regards.

She's teaching me French.

I bet she's teaching
you more than that.

Maja, please.

I've been corresponding
with her mother.

Everyone is quite excited.

- Excited? About what?
- The courtship, of course.

The potential of it.

Albert, your Uncle Jakob

was mentioning how we could
use another gifted engineer

- in our company.
- I've been saying that for years.

(sniffles) I'm sure
Marie would love Milan.

The food,

the fashion. We could even help them

rent a nice apartment,

couldn't we, Hermann?

Mother, I appreciate

your interest, and I adore Marie,

but I'm not ready for marriage,

and I don't plan on moving to Milan.

Not immediately, of course. I
mean, obviously you would have

to finish your
engineering studies first.

I'm sorry, Father,

but I-I have no intention

of becoming an engineer.

Well...

Such an aptitude for it.

Maybe, but I can't bear the thought

of having to spend my creative energy

making practical, everyday life

more refined for-for the
sole purpose of capital gain.

- It's...
- Dear God. What in God's name

have they been teaching you

in Switzerland?

You sound like a communist.

I'm not a communist,
I'm an Internationalist.

Inter... What the hell is
that supposed to mean?

I wouldn't expect you

- to understand.
- Really? Oh, why?

Because I'm not as brilliant
as you, I suppose?

Hermann, please don't.

- May I be excused?
- No.

Tell me, my son, the genius.

Yeah, how do you propose
to make a living

- without a job?
- I've told you before.

I'm going to be a professor.

I will think

for thinking's sake.

That is the most indulgent thing

I've ever heard.

I'm sure from your
bourgeois perspective

it would seem indulgent.

What? My bourgeois per...

But I'm going to Zurich Polytechnic.

Y-You failed

- your entrance exam.
- I won't fail again.

- Stop it, both of you.
- Who do you think's

gonna pay for this
Zurich Polytechnic, huh?

The same people who pay for you

to keep plundering your
businesses into the ground.

Mother's family.

- That's who.
- Oh.

Like hell they will.

They've already agreed.

Did you arrange this?

No, no.

It was entirely my doing.

When you left me behind

in Germany,

you told me to be independent,

to take responsibility for myself.

At first, I thought
you were being cruel,

but now I see you did
me a great service.

You were right.

My future is mine and mine alone,

so I must take charge of it.

Thank you

for the lovely holiday, Mother.

Maja.

MAJA: Oh, don't leave

like this, Albert.

(door opens, closes)

(indistinct conversations and laughter)

d d

d d

Physics, pass.

Mathematics, pass.

Zoology, botany, literature...

pass.

Oh, which brings us to French.

Specifically, your essay.

And, uh, oh, I translate:

"I will enroll in Zurich Polytechnic.

"I will stay there four
years and study physics

"and mathematics.

"I suppose I will become
a teacher in these fields,

focusing on the theoretical parts."

Your vocabulary is elementary,
the syntax simplistic,

you did not use the future simple.

But I think it is an excellent plan.

Welcome to Zurich Polytechnic.

Thank you, sir, thank you.

Good-bye, Albert.

I'm so proud of you.

- Safe travels.
- Albert, come here, son.

Don't let those academic fools
in Zurich change you, Albert.

Their knowledge is their
weakness, while your imagination

is your strength.

Thank you.

- Thank you for everything.
- Oh.

MARIE: Well...

...have a safe journey.

(Marie sobbing)

- Marie, wait!
- MARIE: Just go, Albert.

Please!

Marie, I'm going to write to you.

And Zurich's not that far.

- I'll visit.
- It's all right.

I am happy for you.

You're going to do great things.

I'll... I'll find a
formula to freeze time,

you won't even know I'm gone.

What a lovely thought.

d d

(indistinct chatter)

BROWNSHIRT (over P.A.): ...true example

of this nation's youth...

selfless, strong, courageous...

then sign up!

We must rise against
the Weimar Republic!

Rise against the conniving,

- corrupt, and conquering Jew!
- Excuse me!

You're disrupting our business.

- Could you...
- We have an agitator!

This is our livelihood!

Get your swine hands off of me!

I said stand back!

- Leave Germany!
- You have no right!

(shouting)

Lousy Jew!

Stay down!

You better get down,

you dirty Jew! (grunting)

We should stop this.

BOYS: Kampf! Kampf! Kampf! Kampf!
Kampf! Kampf! Kampf!

Stop!

Kampf! Kampf! Kampf! Kampf!
Kampf! Kampf!

Albert Einstein?

- Herr Einstein!
- (woman sobbing)

Herr Einstein!

Herr Einstein!

Stop!

May I have...

your autograph, sir?

I'm sorry, young man, I...

seem to have lost my pen.

Bruno! Back here now!

When I grow up, I want to be
a scientist, just like you.

Germany Heil!

(spits)

EINSTEIN: Elsa.

Elsa.

You're right.

It's time.

Oh. Um...

um...

I'll, um...

I'll call Princeton.

d d

d d

Oh, I'm sorry.

For what?

I must have the wrong room.

What class are you looking for?

Physics. Good day.

Tell me, do you know Empedocles?

Excuse me?

Empedocles.

The pre-Socratic philosopher
who studied cosmogony.

As I said, I am in... Physics.

Yes, you made that quite clear.

Cosmogony is the study
of the origins of the cosmos.

And Empedocles, he was
the first known person

to ask the simple
question, what is light?

I'm sorry, who are you?

He believed that Aphrodite, a woman...

in case you didn't know...

formed the human eye
and lit a fire in it,

allowing us to see.

Well, that's ridiculous.
If that were the case,

well, then we could see
equally well at night.

Empedocles thought the same,

so he postulated that
the sun's rays may be linked

to the rays shooting from our eyes.

A fanciful idea, I know,
but if not for him,

we might not have had the
counter-theories of Aristotle,

then Euclid, then Alhazen,

Kepler, Newton, Faraday,

and, finally, James Clark Maxwell.

Light is electromagnetic radiation.

I apologize. I didn't think...

That a woman could possibly

understand that the curl of
the electric field is equal

to the negative time derivative
of the magnetic field?

Faraday's Law.

The Maxwell-Faraday equation,

if we are being specific.

You see, Empedocles was
wrong about how we see,

but he stumbled upon a universal truth:

human perception is frightfully narrow.

We believe we see the
whole, when, in fact,

we've only seen a fraction.

PROFESSOR: Good morning.

Professor Weber.

Herr Einstein.

I see you have met

the only student to have
scored higher than you

in the mathematics section
of our entrance exam.

Say hello to Mileva Maric.

(phone ringing)

Albert?

It's probably Mileva.

I can't take any more bad news.

You have to talk to her.

(phone continues ringing)

Hello, Mileva.

Oh. Uh, uh, apologies. I thought...

No, would you repeat that, please?

It's the United States Embassy.

(clears throat) This way, please.

Dr. and Mrs. Einstein.

Thank you for coming in
on such short notice.

I'm Deputy Consul
General Raymond Geist.

It's a real honor to meet you both.

Please have a seat.

I must say, we were quite
surprised by your call.

We've been to the United
States three times now,

and we've never had
a problem obtaining visas.

Yes, ma'am.

You are aware, young man,
that our boat leaves tomorrow.

It's all right, Elsa.

How can we help you, Mr. Geist?

What is the purpose for your
travel to America, Professor?

I'm giving a series of lectures

at the California
Institute of Technology

and opening the Institute
for Advanced Study at Princeton.

But you knew that already.

Is that all you plan on doing?

How do you mean?

What is your political
creed, Professor?

Is this a joke, Mr. Geist?

I'm afraid it isn't.

Are you now or have you ever been

a member of any political organization?

That is none of your business.

Then perhaps we can talk
about Mileva Maric,

your ex-wife, yes? Are
you in frequent contact?

What has she to do with this?

Well, to our understanding,
her political background is

quite radical.

This is nonsense.

May I remind you, Mr. Geist,

your country has invited me,
not the other way around.

Yes, Professor, but you
have a history of...

how shall I put this... controversy,

which calls into
question your loyalties...

My loyalties?

And it is my job to ensure

that any individual
coming to our shores

does not pose a threat.

If you wish to talk about threats,

Mr. Geist, perhaps you should

take a look outside your window.

Have you noticed the charming
fellows in brown shirts

who call me Jewish swine

and want people like me dead?

If you are referring to the
National Socialist Party,

they are not in power.

Oh, no? You want to
take a walk with me?

Professor, I have not
called you here today

for a-a lesson in German politics.

I'm not giving you one. Because I doubt

you'd be smart enough
to be in my class.

Albert.

Dr. Einstein,
I am conducting this inquiry

at the request of the director

of the United States
Bureau of Investigation.

Hoover?

Yes.

Mr. J. Edgar Hoover.

What does he want with me?

He's been quite interested
in your political activities

and affiliations since
your first visit to New York.

So, unless you answer my questions

to his satisfaction,

you will not be granted entry
to the United States of America.

Obrada by Botani?ar