"(woman shudders)" "(faintly):" "Jakob." "Are you there, Jakob?" "Are you listening?" "(whispering):" "Jakob." "Jakob." "(normal voice):" "I'm here." "I'm right here." " Don't." " Shhh, shhh." "Be silent." "And hear me." "This is how it must be." "Another woman will come." "You will see." "There will be another." "You will know her... by the love she shows to you." "Let the words you speak... be the words..." "that call me back to you." "Promise me." "Promise." "(softly):" "Jakob." "I will always be your mother." "_ NO." "Carlotta." " Caflotta..." " Arrivederci." "(shouting in Italian)" "(Carlotta sobbing)" "I hardly know the woman I see." "Her name is Verena." "She is alone." "(soft music)" "She remembers all of them." "Every parting" "Her life is measured out in goodbyes." "Each one harder than the last." "Enter La Rocciosa... and the boy who wouldn't speak." "(soft music)" "(lock opens)" "My first language." "I have these from previous employers." "(sighs)" " Did you live with each family?" " Yes." "I find it helps in understanding the child to know the family." "And do you remain in contact with these people?" "When a child recovers, the family... will generally choose to forget." "You've no degree." "But they say you've a gift." "My skill comes through experience, and a certain, um, sensitivity." "Sensitivity." "You have no children of your own." " No." " Hmm." "Your son... he prefers English?" "His mother." "My wife wanted him to speak it." "She died." "There was an illness." "My son has not spoken since." "Seven months... and sixteen days." "Alessio will see you to your room." "I would like to introduce myself to your son." "You haven't told me his name." "I must say there have been other nurses, all of them as sure of their talents as you." "My son's name is Jakob." "(soft music)" "(stone whirring, clatters)" "Hello, Jakob." "My name is Verena, and I'm going to be staying here for a while." "I promise I'm not like the others." "I'm much worse." "Please look at me, Jakob." "I'd like to help you." "Do you understand?" "There's no point." "He won't even nod his head." "He won't write or draw... sing or laugh... smile..." "Cry." "Grazie." "(fork scraping)" "(clears throat)" "We'll begin our work in the morning, Jakob." "Say 9:00?" "Your questions are wasted." "Jakob doesn't need to answer me." "I think he understands that." "(scraping continues)" "Enough." "(fork clatters)" "Sit down." "Now you may 9°" " Good night, Jakob." "He is very obedient." "Hmm." "This is part of it." "To disobey is to say something, so... so he obeys." "He isn't trying to hurt you." "That's my son, signorina, not me." "Hmm." "Jakob doesn't want you here." "He hasn't shown it yet, but he will." "There is such power in his silence." "You will feel it." "You speak very harshly to him." "Braver than the others." "I have some things I need to ask." "What things?" "Tomorrow... perhaps." "(footsteps receding)" "(gasps)" "(birds cawing)" "To begin with, I will tell you what I see." "I see... that if you wanted to speak, you could." "Hmm, and I see how hard it must be... to truly say nothing." "How hard you must be concentrating every moment." "And I must admit, you're very good at it." "I know a little something of what it feels to be apart from the world." "I lost my mother when I was a little bit younger than you... and my father when I was a little bit older." "It's a lovely day." "I have an idea." "Jakob?" "Jakob!" "Buongiorno." "Jakob?" "Jakob?" "Jakob?" "(door rattling)" "(clears throat)" "Oh." "Please forgive me." "I didn't..." "Verena." "The nurse, of course." "(clears throat) Come closer." "Let Lilia see you." "You've come to make the boy talk." " Just to help if I can." " Oh, welcome." "Welcome." "Welcome to La Rocciosa, my child." "Grazie." "You're very kind." "But I should go." "Yes, of course." "Go find the boy." "Make him talk." "(piano keys play softly)" "(piano keys playing)" "I'm sorry." "I-l was looking for Jakob." "Do you DEV'?" "No, I, uh, never could." "This is your wife?" "Yes." "What was her name?" "(doors slamming)" " You spent time with Jakob this morning." " Yes." "And did you observe anything?" "I need to understand what he has been through." "Malvina." "Malvina Rivi." "You may have heard of her." "NO." "That's Carnegie Hall." "She played all over the world, in all the great halls, for kings and queens, presidents." "She was very beautiful." "Six months after that photograph was taken, she was dead." "It began after our return." "It started as... as a simple fever, and became like fire." "Each day, it consumed a little bit more of her strength, her beauty." "I had to leave to... find help, and Jakob stayed with her." "He and Lilia nursed her together." "He wouldn't leave his mother's side." "(Klaus scoffs)" "He has his mother's gift." "They would sit here and play together for hours." "Hmm." " He chooses not to speak?" " Oh... this... this must be that incredible sensitivity of yours?" "I mean, there is no injury?" "No incapacity?" "Something inside him has been broken." "It is simply a refusal... a denial... as if, by this vigil... he can undo what is done." "You're telling me he wants his mother back, hmm?" "Well, that's a... that's a revelation." "(soft music)" "(snap) (soft music)" "(panting) I'vel've been looking for you, Jakob." "I'm here to work, not to play hide-and-seek." "_ NO." "I haven't finished yet, Jakob." "(silverware scraping)" "You have a very beautiful home." "Thank you." "I do hope you'll be comfortable here." "Once, Jakob," "I stayed with a family in Lucca." "Their house hadn't been cleaned... in years." "There were cockroaches as big as your father's watch." "And once, I stayed with a family in Piacenza." "I shared a room with the cook, who snored... come un bufalo." "(chuckles)" "So, yes, I'm sure..." "I will be very comfortable here." "In truth, I cannot think of this place as my own." "My wife's family has lived here for 1,200 years." "Mm." "I'm just a visitor." "Hmm?" "Alessio's family has been here forjust as long." "The women work here in the house." "The men, in the quarry." " The quarry?" " It's where all this comes from, the wealth of the family." "The stone was once highly prized." "Was?" "She allowed it to flood at the beginning of the war." "Times were difficult and... and she had her career." "No more need for the stone." "Jakob swims there." "Hmm?" "He'll take you there if you wish." "Yes." "I'd like that very much." "Salve." "(clears throat)" "(water splashes)" "Let me." "Per favore." "It's been so long." "'ZZZ used to do this to her... every night of her life... since she was a tiny girl." "She began to perform... when she was fourteen." "She took me with her everywhere." "Nobody knew her as I did..." "Knew her moods, her needs." "Oh... how I loved her." "(wind whistling softly)" "(screams)" "(gasping)" "Jakob, was it you?" "If it was, then all you've done is tell me you're afraid." "Ja..." "Jakob." "Jakob, what is it?" "Jakob." " Ah!" " What?" "Jakob, no!" "Wait!" "Wait!" "A@m." "Jakob?" "Hey!" "(grunting)" "Jakob." "Jakob, no." "Quiet." "Quiet." "Be quiet." "Be quiet." "Shhh." "Shhh, shhh, shhh, shhh." "(Jakob grunting)" "Quiet." "(Jakob groaning)" "Shhh." "Enough." "Stop!" "I should have left him." "He was by the wall as if he was..." "Listening." "Yes, I've seen him do it." "In his bedroom." "Also in the garden." "In the quarry." "I assume it's his mother he hears, or thinks he hears." "It seems to give him comfort." "I should have been told." "It changes the situation." "It may indicate a far more serious condition." "You don't believe in such voices?" "_ NO." "No, signore, I do not." "Nor do I." "Sometimes I wish I did." "(clears throat)" "Have you considered..." "taking him away from this place?" "Yes, of course." "It was impossible." "It was as you saw last night." "He became a danger to himself and to others." " Then he should be in hospital." " No, absolutely not." "No." "Signore, I'm no longer sure I can care for your son." "Why?" "I have been misled about what is required." "I must consider whether I am properly qualified." "You're just like the others." "(scoffs)" "I await your decision." "(animal braying in the distance)" "(birds chirping)" "(braying continues)" "(wings fluttering)" "Jakob." "Jakob!" "Jakob!" "(panting)" "Help me down." "You scared me, Jakob." "But you've helped me realize something." "I can't leave you." "I once knew a boy who thought he could hear his dead sister through the teeth of an old comb." "He would sit with it for hours, listening and whispering his secrets." "He was as sure of what he heard as you are." "The mind is capable of extraordinary things." "It is your mind that is speaking to you, Jakob, nothing else." "I'm not saying that... that what you hear isn't real, because anything we experience is real in its own way, but it's... it's not what it pretends to be." "It's important to understand that." "I want to hear you speak." "But I am not your enemy." "I care about you." "What is it?" "You wish to leave?" "(bees buzzing)" "(door creaks open) (buzzing)" "Jakob?" "Lucia." "Ugolina." "Angelica." "La signora Malvina." "Jakob?" "Come with me, please." "(Alessio speaking softly in Italian)" "(soft music)" "I think you're afraid that if you speak, the voice will cease." "Come." "We'll listen together." "I'll tell you what I hear." "(light whooshing, soft rattling)" "(chain rattling)" "(thud, creaking)" "(clattering)" "(water gurgfing)" "It's strange... the sounds." "One could imagine almost anything." "But she's not there." "I want you to stop this." "The dead do not speak." "I know it..." "Jakob." "I know it well." "However hard we wish them to, the dead remain silent." "Good night, Jakob." "(soft piano music playing)" "(phonograph clicks)" "Your father told me you have her gift." "What would she say if she knew you might never use it again?" "She must have... spoken about the future before she died... about the wonderful things that lie ahead for you." "Try to remember what she said." "And imagine what she might say now if she could see you." "(stone thuds lightly)" "(stone whirring)" "Buongiorno." "Signore." "There's a story about that cat." "It was the custom amongst those building houses such as this to... to seal a cat within the walls as a protection against evil." " A dead cat?" " No." "Not dead." "That's horrible." "Of course." "L-I'm a fool to speak lightly of it." "Forgive me." " Jakob will be waiting." " Yes." "(piano music)" "Now, if you were to play, it would mean only what you wanted it to mean." "Play for me, Jakob." "Perhaps I was wrong earlier when I spoke about your mother." "Perhaps your silence wouldn't... horrify her as it does me." "It is said that a true performer cares only for the love of her audience." "(piano note plays)" "Perhaps... your silence is a fitting tribute." "(piano note plays)" "More adoration as she leaves the stage." "(piano note plays)" "What are you telling me, Jakob?" "That I'm wrong, or that I'm right?" "You can't..." "(dissonant notes play)" "I do it to help you, Jakob." "(thunder rumbling)" "The boy was upset today." "He's sick." "He needs help." "And he's breaking his father's heart." "(sighs)" "The boy... is all that matters." "He is the future." "Look at yourself... how beautiful you are." "(thunder rumbling)" "Give me your hands." "Oh." "They're strong." "Like hers." "He will not speak to please you." "The boy will speak when the time is right." "He's waiting." "But he's waited long enough." "Surely that is clear to anyone." "(thunder rumbling)" "When he speaks... where will you go?" "To the next place." "Oh." "Lonely child." "(whisper-like sound)" "(bees buzzing)" "There's a story about that cat within the walls." "(whisper):" "He's waiting." "(birdsong)" "(distant clatter)" "(device whirring)" "Oh." "I wondered if Jakob was still here." "NO." "May I see?" "If you wish." "It's my wife." "She was the worst possible model - restless, complaining." "(chuckles)" "She was the worst, and also the best." "And this one?" "I have not worked in many months." "It was to be of her." "You cannot finish it, so you abandoned it." "Perhaps to see you work, it would help Jakob." "Perhaps it would signify hope." "Yes." "(soft piano music)" "Perhaps." "(bird caws)" "(birds chirping)" "(soft, eerie music)" "(fabric tears)" "(soft music)" "(birdsong)" "Hello?" "Lilia?" "(door closing)" "I keep it clean... for her." "She was here at the end." "We nursed her day and night... me and the boy." "He saw terrible things." "He heard... terrible things." "(sighs)" "When she died, I... washed her... a-and tidied her hair." "(sighs)" "The room upsets you." "Oh, you've torn your dress." "Uh, yes." "Yes, I-| wondered if I might borrow some thread." "I have an idea." "Oh, no." "No, no, I-| couldn't." "Wait." "I ca..." "I really..." "Please, I really can't." "Let's see." "This?" "No." "Try this on." "See how it fits, huh?" "(Zipper closes)" "(laughs)" "Brava." "Bellisima." "Ah, perfetto." "(exhales sharply)" "Bellisima." "I-I-I tore my dre... my skirt." "Take it off." "Yes." "(Klaus scoffs)" "(zipper opens)" "No." "No." "Put it on." "(Zipper closes)" "Put that one away." "(Lilia praying in Italian)" "(rumbling)" "(straining)" "(clears throat)" "(whispering in Italian)" "Signore." "Please." "I have something to ask." "You may very likely refuse." "What is it?" "I saw this afternoon something I had previously failed to notice, certain... resemblances between you... you and my wife." "'ZZZ" "I think you know what it is I ask." "If I have offended you, I apologize, and ask that we forget the matter entirely." "Your work here will be unaffected." "(thunder rumbling)" "(soft music)" "(thunder rumbling)" "Look at yourself, how beautiful you are." "(soft music)" "(soft music)" "(soft music)" "Your left leg forward." "Your hand." "Yes, your hand." "Your head." "This way, yes." "Just a little more." "Don't move." "(soft music)" "(breathing heavily)" "(moaning)" "(door opens)" "(woman):" "Bring them in." "Bring them in." "(creaking)" "(soft classical music)" "(faint rumbling)" "(faint whooshing)" "(woman):" "Jakob." "(exhales sharply)" "(whispering)" "(whispering)" "Jakob." "I'm here." "I'm right here." "Jakob." "I'm going to look after you." "I promise." "(birdsong)" "(faint tapping)" "(tapping continues)" "You're hurting him now." "Let me care for him." "Let me care for them both." "(soft music)" "(soft music)" "Is it her?" "Or is it me?" "(soft music)" "(soft, dramatic music)" "(soft music)" "(sobbing)" "You wanted to see me?" "I think it's time for us... to review the progress of your work, to discuss any changes in Jakob's behaviour." "He needs me." "I can help him." "And yet he has still said nothing." "It's for me to protect him, and now I have made things worse." "She wants me here... to take care of Jakob... and to take care of you." "The voice is real." "You're mad." "Yes." "You said it yourself- serious condition." "I should have paid closer attention." "Instead of helping Jakob, you've made yourself unwell." "Now you hear whatever you wish!" " No." " Yes." "Why would she speak to you and not to her husband?" "!" "Please don't send me away." "Please." "I must do what is best, above all... for Jakob." "Jakob!" "Jakob." "He's going to send me away." "Tell me what I must do." "Tell me." "Tell me." "Tell me." "Tell me." "Tell me." "Tell me." "Tell me." "Tell me." "(crying)" "Tell me!" "Tell mel!" "(screams)" "Tell me." "Tell me." "Tell me!" "(screams)" "(sobbing)" "Jakob." "Jakob." "Another woman will come." "This is how... it must be." "We must help her." "(soft, dramatic music)" "Jakob." "Jakob, listen to me closely." "Your mother is watching over you." "But she is suffering." "She is tired." "And she is trapped." "Jakob... we must help her." "We must help her." "You know what you must do." "Jakob.Jakob.Jakob!" "Jakob, stop!" "(Qrunts)" "Jakob!" "Jakob!" "Stop, Jakob!" "Jakob, no." "No, no, no." "It's time." "It's time." "You have to let her go." "No." "Jakob!" "No, it has to be now." "Do you understand?" "He will send me away if you don't speak." "Speak." "Speak." "Speak!" "Speak!" "Speak!" "(sobbing)" "No." "(eerie, indistinct whispering)" "(whispering continues)" "Jakob." "(woman):" "This is how it must be." "(whisper-like sound)" "(moaning and crying)" "(groaning)" "Ah!" "Ah!" "(soft, dramatic music)" "What are you doing?" " I must leave." " No." "Sir, she's given me her illness." "You have a fever." "That is all." "You don't have to leave." "I want you to stay." "Forgive me." "We've been under her spell too long - not only Jakob, all of us." "I can't." "No, Jakob needs you." "Please." "I'm so afraid." "Lilia... where is she?" "' Who?" "Lilia." "What do you mean?" "Where is she?" "She's dead." "On the day of Malvina's funeral, she put stones in her pockets and walked into the lake." "(gasping)" "Verena." "(gasps)" "Verena!" "(eerie music)" "(panting)" "(whimpering)" "(intense soundscape) (whimpering)" "(dissonant soundscape)" "(eerie, indistinct whispering)" "(whispering)" "(objects clattering)" "(dissonant music)" "(woman):" "Look at yourself." "(heartbeat)" "(gasps)" "(wheezing)" "Not here... (wheezing) Not this room." "No." "No, no, no." "No, no, no." "Not this room." "(wheezing)" "It's all right." "(grunting) You're going to be okay." "Tutto." "Tutto, tutto." "(9898, coughing)" " The door was locked." " It's for your safety." "Please, Klaus, not this room." "Alessio think it's best." "You're confused, confused." " Please don't leave me here." " I'm going to fetch a doctor, and he'll be here as soon as he can." "Don't leave me here." "Not this room." "I must speak to Jakob..." "(moaning)" "I must speak to Jakob." "(wheezing)" "Jakob." "(Lilia):" "The boy will speak... when the time is right." "Help me." "(clatter)" "Help." "(wheezing)" "Help... me." "(panting)" "(whimpering)" "(rumbling)" "Oh, God, please." "(breathing shakily)" "Good morning." "You're feeling better?" "Everything's going to be fine." "I promise." "I was worried." "Where is Jakob?" "I miss my mama." "I'm here." "I'm right here." "Jakob." "(both chuckle)" "(laughs)" "(soft music)" "I try to think of a time before this." "I hardly know the woman I see." "But the past is a dream from which we wake with each new morning." "(soft piano music)" "(music)" "We are, none of us, quite who we were." "(soft piano music)" "(music ends)" "Come, Jakob." "Sit with me." "♪ Be still, my love S'" "♪ I will return a'" "♪ To you ♪" "♪ How ever far a'" "♪ You feel a'" "♪ a' From me a'" "♪ You are not alone ♪" "♪ I will always I'" "♪ Be waiting S'" "♪ And I'll always I'" "♪ Be watching you S'" "♪ Speak to me ♪" "♪ Speak to me ♪" "♪ Speak to me ♪" "(soft music)" "♪ I can't let go..." "S'" "♪ You're every part of me a'" "♪ This space between S'" "♪ Is just a dream S'" "♪ You will never be alone a'" "♪ I will always I'" "♪ Be waiting S'" "♪ And I'll always I'" "♪ Be watching S'" "♪ We are ♪" "♪ One breath apart I" "♪ My love A'" "♪ And I'll be' ♪" "♪ Holding it in A'" "♪ Till we're together S'" "♪ Hear me ♪" "♪ Call your name ♪" "♪ I just..." "S'" "♪ Speak ♪" "♪ Speak to me ♪" "♪ Speak to me ♪" "♪ Speak ♪" "(music)" "♪ I feel you rushing all through me a'" "(music)" "♪ In these walls, I still hear your heart beating A'" "(music)" "♪ And nothing in this world A'" "♪ Can hold me back a'" "♪ From breaking S'" "♪ Through to you S'" "(music)" "♪ We are ♪" "♪ One breath apart I" "♪ My love A'" "♪ And I'll be' ♪" "♪ Holding it in A'" "♪ Till we're together S'" "♪ Hear me ♪" "♪ Call your name ♪" "♪ Just believe a'" "♪ And speak S'" "♪ Speak to me ♪" "♪ Speak to me ♪" "♪ Speak ♪" "(music)" "♪ Be still, my love S'" "(music)" "♪ I will return a'" "♪ To you ♪" "(music)"