"Your grandfather is waiting in room 17." "It's one flight up." "Come in!" "Good day, Henrik." "Thank you for coming." "It is a good thing that you came." "Please sit down." "Your grandmother asked me to see you." "It was her last wish." "She would like you to visit her at the hospital." "She will ask your forgiveness for all the difficulties that our family has caused you and your mother." "When I was just born and my mother a widow, we came the long trip to your estate to ask for your assistance." "We got two small rooms in Söderhamn and an allowance of 30 crowns!" "That was my brother Hindrich who took care of that." "Nothing could be more meaningless than this conversation." "It is awkward when a man without humanity suddenly becomes sentimental." "I cannot tell your grandmother that you have refused me." "I cannot say that you will not see her." "I believe that will be necessary." "I know that your aunts have made you a loan so that you can continue in Uppsala." "And I also know that your mother makes her living as a piano teacher." "I am offering to pay off the loan." "How do you respond to my offer?" "What would you like me to say?" "I'll pay off your loan." "I'll take care of your tuition and pay you a monthly allowance," "All you have to do is go to the Academic Hospital." "Section 12." "Reconcile with your grandmother." "Your grandmother and I have lived together for nearly 50 years." "It is painful, Henrik." "I'm asking for a moment of charity." "Not for me, I don't need that, but for her." "You're going to be a minister, Henrik." "You must know something about love." "Have pity on a sick and desperate person." "Are you listening?" "Go to the memory you call "my grandmother" and bring the message that she lived her whole life without helping my mother and I." "She knew how miserable we were, and sent small presents for Christmas and other holidays." "Tell this woman that she deserved both her life and her death." "She'll never receive my forgiveness." "I despise her for my mother's sake and for my own as I loathe you and your kind." "Are you thinking of hitting me, grandfather?" "Ecclesia invisibilis, ecclesia militans, ecclesia.. ." "Ecclesia militans, ecclesia pressa, ecclesia regnans and last but not least, ecclesia triumphans." "Which meetings do the Greek and Catholic churches acknowledge?" "Constantinople, 381." "Ephesus, 431." "Constantinople, 553." "Now we're ready!" "We are truly ready." "To think we'll be examined by Sundelius?" "It would be a catastrophe if we break down." "What's this?" "This is Frida." "The secret fiancée?" "She has teeth." "See you in ten minutes." "Pax tecum." "God, please help me?" "Sundelius might fall ill and send the friendly lecturer." "It has happened before." "Good Morning, Professor Sundelius!" "Nothing gets in the way of my breakfast cigar." "I can say, with all faith, that this is a real Cuban cigar." "Yes.. ." "Which, of you gentlemen, would like to begin?" "Who will make the first push?" "You gentlemen know that I am considered demanding and that is intentional on my part." "We carry on with too many lazy, stupid and uneducated theologians." "A good command of religious history demands diligence interest, breadth of view, a good memory and self-discipline." "Qualities particularly suited for a minister." "I raise a screen and make sure that all the idiots.. ." "... lazy dogs and blowhards get stuck in it." "There's always something?" "Don't you agree, gentlemen?" "Now, who will go first?" "Very well, Mr. Kugelman." "We shall discuss scholastics, whose most prominent representatives were...?" "Johannes Scotus Frigena, Saint Anselm of Canterbury. 9th century." "Approximately." "What were the characteristics of the two gentlemen?" "Frigena maintained that true religion and true philosophy are one and the same." "Anselm claimed that ideas are reality and not simply words." "Credo ut intelligensia." "Mr. Bergman.. ." "Your subject will be the Apostles." "Would you name a few of the Apostle's forefathers?" "Which authors are considered apprentices to the Apostles?" "Barnabas." "Correct." "There are, in addition, some much more important figures." "Clemens of Rome, Polykarp.. ." "Three more!" "No.." "What is meant by "Apostolic Assembly"?" "They are the assemblies that the Apostles established.. ." "... in Rome, Ephesus and Corinth." "More!" "Ephesus." "You have already named that." "Alexandria." "No, but Antioch." "Jerusalem!" "What do we mean by "Apostolic symbolum"?" "It is something concerning confession." "I don't know anything more.. ." "The gentleman will now take a nice stroll in the gardens." "There is so much to marvel about in the spring regardless of one's belief, or disbelief, in God." "Henrik!" "My man!" "How did it go?" "there's always hope." "You've never been to our place." "You are welcome to dinner on Sunday, 5 o'clock." "On the dot!" "Greetings!" "Good Night, Frida!" "Apologies for just dropping by, But Justus stopped by the restaurant and told me." "You haven't eaten, so I brought beer and cold cuts." "I have to go downstairs and piss." "I don't think I've pissed all day." "No one could possibly get so low?" "What is it, Henrik?" "I don't know what can I say to mother." "First things first." "Go and pee." "Come.. ." "We won't have any children in any case." "I'm going home, it's starting to get light out." "Just stay in bed." "I have to go home and tell my mother that I didn't pass my exam." "Poor Henrik.. ." "I could accompany you.. ." "One day you will." "Do you really think so?" "One day we will get married, Frida." "Your mother doesn't even know that we are engaged." "She can say whatever she wants." "Why must it be so secretive?" "First things first.. ." "Good Morning!" "PSALM" "Good morning, children!" "Good morning." "Good morning, Karin." "Did you sleep well?" "Do you have a sore throat?" "Yes." "Here, let me see.. ." "Open your mouth and say "ah"?" "Very good!" "Good morning, Axel." "How is your stomach today?" "It hurts." "The doctor will be here shortly." "Is Pappa sleeping?" "I'm pretty sure." "I sleep and I dream that I am sleeping." "I dream that I'm sitting in my study and sleeping." "The door opens and in comes the most beautiful.. ." "... the most lovable, the most tender woman." "She comes over to me and blows with her soft breath." "She says: "Is Pappa sleeping?"" "And I think: this must be how it is, waking up in Paradise." "You should learn to remove your glasses otherwise they'll fall on the floor and break." "Are you as sensible as your mother?" "What do you want, my dear?" "Dinner will be served in a few minutes." "Sit still, and I'll comb your hair." "Aren't we having a guest?" "Your brother Ernst.. ." "He's a friend of Ernst's who studies theology." "Does Ernst pal around with a seminary student?" "The final days are approaching.. ." "Ernst says that he is modest but agreeable." "he's learned to be terribly poor but handsome." "Aha, now I understand the interest in Ernst's social network." "Now you're being silly, I'm going to marry my brother Ernst." "What about me?" "Oh, you'll understand." "Didn't Mamma say that you should take care of the hair in your ears?" "." "How can you hear with so much hair in your ears?" "They are very fine listening hairs." "No one can touch them, because they give me a particular kind of hearing ability that allows me to hear what people think." "Can you tell what I am thinking now?" "You are too close." "My listening hairs are being overtaxed." "If you stand over there in the light I'll tell you what you're thinking." "Now, Pappa?" "You are very pleased with yourself." "In addition, you are very pleased with the fact that your father loves you." "Have you slept well?" "Yes I have." "Hello boys!" "Hello Pappa." "Hello Pappa." "Hello girls." "Welcome!" "Did you tell your friend that dinner starts at 5, Ernst?" "I stressed that we are punctual to a fault." "I was delayed." "You may have dinner in the kitchen." "I'm terribly.. ." "Come!" "Now, then come in for my sake." "Mr. Bergman asks your forgiveness, he was at the hospital visiting a sick friend." "There there" "This is my mother." "Good day." "Is your friend seriously ill?" "He has broken his leg." "This is my father and my half brothers." "Gustav, Oskar and Carl." "Good day, young man." "Svea is married to Oskar, Martha to Gustav, their daughters." "Torsten Bohlin, who is considered my intended." "And that's the whole family" "Let's get seated!" "Who broke their leg?" " No idea." "That was your sister's.. ." "Aha... watch out for her!" "Would the gentleman please sit beside Martha?" "Anna beside Pappa." "Let us say grace." "In Jesus' name we take our seat, and bless the Lord for the food we eat." "Amen." "How are your studies coming?" "Thank you, well." "My husband Gustav the nice plump one over there." "I'm talking about you!" "He is a professor of Roman law." "Look here..." "It's the bottom which is the best but first we take the leaf with our fingers." "It tastes better like this." "Lay it against your lips and bite." "Mmm..." "Good?" "Goodbye." "Goodbye and good luck." "Goodbye." "Goodbye, please let me thank you." "Goodbye!" "See you again!" "You're welcome." "I'm Anna and you are Henrik, isn't that right." "Yes." "Can we go together?" "I'm sorry, I don't have the time." "Something erotic, I would think!" "I'm going home to write a difficult" "Then you need something to strengthen you." "Good evening, Engineer." "Good evening." "What can I offer you?" "Miss Frida can offer us some punch." "And cigars!" "I'll tell the waitress." "You seem familiar with Miss Frida." "No... my colleagues and I come here sometimes, but I don't know her." "Your cheeks are getting a little color, minister." "Do I note some denial, let's hear the cock crow?" "Her name is Frida and she's from Ångermanland." "Nice girl." "Very nice." "Thank you." "Now..." "How was the evening?" "I have never eaten dinner with four courses and three wines." "It was like theater." "Everything was very obscure." "I don't mean to be critical." "Obscure?" "Thanks, Frida!" "My stepmother is a remarkable character, grander than her situation." "She is a powerhouse who guides us with an iron hand." "If there is something that doesn't fit in, she cuts it amputates and deforms." "She's very good at that, the charming lady." "May I propose a brotherly toast?" "Carl Eberhard, '89." "Thanks!" "Frik Henrik Fredrik, '06." "Thanks!" "I'm an engineer." "I've had a few inventions registered at the patent office." "In the eyes of my family I am a failure." "The black sheep." "I've been locked up a few times." "I'm not really so much crazy, but I'm considered a little unstuck." "Our family has produced so much godforsaken normality that it needs a bit of insanity." "I've taken care of that." "Doesn't becoming a minister require a belief in God?" "Isn't that a primary requirement?" "It is." "How the heck does one believe in God nowadays?" "Pardon the tactless formulation." "It's difficult to explain here." "An inner voice?" "A feeling of being in someone's hand?" "Of not being omitted, delivered?" "A warm breath on your cheek?" "To be a little pulse in a boundless circulatory system?" "Meaning, patterns, moment of grace?" "I'm not being ironic." "I'm very serious, my young friend." "Why do you ask if you already know?" "I believe that a man who is blind can have opinions about red, blue and yellow." "I'll become a minister for my own sake and not for humanity's." "I'm sorry, but we're closing early tonight." "We're having breakfast for the consortium and we must set the tables." "Then Miss Frida.. ." "is busy this evening?" "Yes, I am." "Thanks!" "Your little sister Anna is very.. ." "... attractive." "There are many who come a-courting." "Our princess is very clever, pure of heart, tender, full of love.. ." "That sounds good." "Yes, she is so damned like her mother." "I don't understand what you mean, brother?" "I think Miss Frida would make an incredibly fine minister's wife." "Weren't you going to write a letter?" "Yes." "Everything has gotten so dreadfully expensive." "The coal..." "What a winter we've been having." "The coal and the wood have gotten twice as expensive." "What is it, Henrik?" "You look so down." "Did something happen?" "You know that you can say anything to your old mother." "I took my exam in religious history and failed." "When did that happen?" "A few weeks ago." "I'll try again in November." "Then your graduation will be delayed." "Six months." "How will we manage, Henrik?" "The loan is almost all gone." "Tuition, books, and your lodgings.. ." "We promised to pay back your aunts when you became a minister." "I'm trying to find more students, but people are taking fewer piano lessons." "That's understandable." "Yes." "I could do some cleaning again, but my asthma has gotten so bad, and.. ." "You don't need to do cleaning, Mamma." "We'll help each other." "Isn't that so, my dear boy?" "Mamma.. ." "I'll quit my studies, look for work and move back here." "We'll pay back the loan and figure out what we can do later." "My poor boy.. ." "You are certainly even dumber than I am." "We can't allow ourselves to be stopped, when we're so close to the goal." "Don't think that I'd let you come home to be an assistant telegraphist?" "Or a substitute teacher?" "You, who will be my minister." "My minister!" "What do you mean, Mamma?" "We have been too good-natured." "Your aunts will have to open their purses again." "We'll call on them." "Please!" "I gather that Alma and Henrik didn't come all this way out of kindred love?" "It's been three years." "The reason for that visit was the loan which was supposed to cover Henrik's studies." "The money is all gone." "As simple as that." "All gone?" "It should have lasted four years." "Everything has gotten more expensive." "Alma, you decided the amount, I didn't argue." "Blenda, you have been generous." "Would you like a new loan?" "Henrik and I discussed whether he should discontinue his studies and apply at the new Telegraph Office in Söderhamn." "That was the only way out, but then something happened." "I think it's better that Henrik should tell you." "I took my exam in religious history with the feared Sundelius." "Three of us went up and I was the only one who passed." "Afterward the professor asked me for a private discussion." "He offered me a cigar, very amicably." "He offered Henrik a cigar!" "I just said that.. ." "He recommended I take the scientific path." "I should write a dissertation under his guidance." "Then I can become a lecturer." "That is flattering, Blenda." "Diabolical.. ." "I lack the resources." "I can't even complete my exams." "He said that if I can take care of the first year then I can get a doctor's stipend." "It's a lot of money, Aunt Blenda." "Diabolical!" "We're asking for a new loan.. ." "... of 6,000 crowns." "Professor Sundelius calculated that this is what is necessary." "What do you think, Beda?" "I'm speechless." "What are you talking about?" "Henrik will be a professor." "He needs 6,000 crowns beyond the 2,000 we already loaned him." "Do we have that much money?" "That's another thing entirely." "If we're to do something then we must do it immediately." "Alma, will you come to my study." "Please sit down." "Maybe we should write a receipt?" "I'll just call Professor Sundelius and thank him for his earnest contribution to our family's hopeful progeny." "1546." "I'll call another day." "It's not polite to disturb such an eminent figure after 8 o'clock in the evening." "Alma, you understand that we are proud to be able to help Henrik?" "Thank you so much," "You don't need to be thankful." "I'm doing this because your boy is a gift." "Or am I doing it for nothing?" "Or for your own love for your son?" "I don't know.. ." "Let's go back out to the others." "Come on, Alma!" "Don't cry like that." "Hurry up, Ernst!" "Have you got the towels?" "I do." "Goodbye you two!" "Goodbye, Mamma!" "Have you ever been in love?" "In love?" "What do you mean?" "I don't know." "Have you?" "Anna..." "Tell me, who is your lover?" "Pappa and you." "Understood?" "Torsten Bohlin?" "No, he's not my lover." "But somebody is.. ." "Yes, that is possible." "Ehh, I don't know." "Would you like to come with me to Uppsala?" "I can't, for Mamma's sake." "What will you do there in July?" "They have a meteorological institute." "And it might be nice to have the house to ourselves." "You must talk to Mamma, she won't let me go." "Who else could make my meals, darn my socks, and make sure I get to bed?" "Anna?" "It could be pleasant." "I'll take my bicycle and you the train, and we'll meet at Trädgårdsgatan." "That's very tempting.. ." "Present, imperfect and plusquamperfect." "Well?" "Can't we go swimming?" "What would your father say?" "Do you think I'm having such a pleasant time?" "But you're being paid for it." "Present!" "Stop doing that now, Robert." "Present, then?" "Ich bin, du bist.. ." "... er, sie, es ist, wir sind, ihr seid, Sie, sie sind." "And now perfect?" "Ich habe gewesen." "A young man, Ernst Åkerblom, would like to speak with you." "I told him that you would be occupied with my son until 1 o'clock." "How's it going with Robert?" "Is he unteachable or have you hit success?" "Robert is clever, makes some progress, but there are gaps.. ." "Aha, do you mean gaps, or gaping holes?" "Gaps." "That sounds hopeful." "Or what do you think, Robert?" "Yes." "Are you howling?" "Blow your nose.. ." "Don't you have a handkerchief?" "Such carelessness?" "Here!" "Don't snivel!" "Take your grammar book and read in the garden." "I would like to talk to your tutor privately." "You would like to speak with me, Your Lordship?" "His mother says that I am unfair and push him too much." "I don't know.. ." "She says that I don't love him." "Yes, I don't know." "Perhaps it's just as well to stop this animal cruelty." "What do you think?" "You should never give up hope." "Bullshit, young man!" "Robert is an unteachable drone, an idiot." "A tear drenched drag ass." "That must be horrible for him." "Is it?" "Then it must be horrible for everyone." "Yes, perhaps that is it." "What kind of goddamned bullshit is this?" "I refuse." ""Ich habe gewesen"?" "The boy's a bloody dung heap." "Pollution at the earth's surface." "Then we are agreed in discontinuing Robert's summer lessons." "It is you who decides, My Lord." "Exactly, young man." "In the fall he will repeat the grade." "You will stop today and be paid until Friday the fifteenth." "You may stay or leave." "Your Lordship is aware that I am employed until the first of September." "What is this!" "You want to be paid without results." "You are being pretentious and presumptuous!" "I have my rights." "If your Lordship refuses me I will go to Her Ladyship, who signed the contract." "You presume to speak to the Countess!" "I am obliged." "You're being impertinent!" "You've had too little corporal punishment in your childhood." "Your Lordship is being a bastard who's been whipped once too many times." "What if I make up for your father's sinful laziness and gave you a good drubbing?" "Your Lordship must strike first, as you are the oldest and most noble." "You're the devil of a seminarian." "Not badly done, young man." "If you're to get somewhere you've get to get out of Hell." "Was it the first of September?" "Then I owe you for July and August." "We'll take care of that on the spot." "Not a word to the ladies!" "Room and board was included.. ." "... but I'll let that go." "Just stay, it's pleasant here." "Sweet girls and good food." "No thanks." "A cocky devil you are." "Are you being resentful?" "Not in this case." "Come on!" "We'll have an afternoon coffee with the Countess and the girls and your acquaintance." "What was his name?" "Ernst." "I wonder if there will be classes in the fall." "There will be strikes across the country." "Big lockouts in August." "Hello!" "Hi!" "I'm glad you both came." "Hello Henrik." "Welcome to Trädgårdsgatan!" "Nice to see you again, Anna." "Is it nice to be alone?" "Wonderful." "Have you called the summer house?" "Mamma will call soon." "Here, please!" "You must be starving." "Please, take some!" "Thanks." "The phone rings" "I'll get that." "Åkerblom residence." "Nice to hear from you, Mamma." "Ernst is here." "He's snoring on his floppy ears The connection is bad.. ." "What are we doing this evening?" "We're going to Odinslund, to a concert." "Are we alone?" "Yes, just me and Ernst." "This will be an expensive chat.. ." "Say hi to everybody!" "It must be thunder the way it's crackling on the line." "Do I sound funny?" "It's your imagination." "I can barely hear, we're hanging up now." "Kisses... hug Pappa for me." "Imagine going up in a balloon to observe the ice movements down there.. ." "... and Arctic air masses." "I forbid you to leave me!" "Mamma will also be lonely if you leave." "It was delicious!" "I always eat too much when Anna cooks for me." "You make too delicious food." "What do you say, Henrik?" "Wonderful." "My sentiments exactly." "Are there any cigars?" "Look in Pappa's stash." "You should be a nurse." "Wait, and I'll show you." "This is me when I'm a nurse." "The school's on the ground floor and we sleep up there." "It's very nice." "Good teachers, very severe." "Long days, a minimum of twelve hours." "From six in the morning until seven in the evening." "We get very tired." "The uniforms are not very stylish." "Really?" "I think they are." "The cap is cute." "Later we'll get a badge that will go here, near the neck." "We get it when we finish our exams." "My sister will be a nurse." "My sister Anna the nurse." "You are sweet together." "I don't understand at all, when we have it so nice!" "Are you sleeping?" "No, I knew you weren't sleeping." "I thought I'd go to see you, Henrik, and talk about how it is." "It's not such a good thing that you are here with me even though it's even worse when you are away from me." "Mamma says I should always be in control of my feelings." "I have always been proud that I am known for my cleverness." "I thought that that's the way life should be and the way I want it to be." "But now I'm afraid." "What should we do?" "Yes, there are only two possibilities." "Either I say:" ""Go away, Henrik."" "Or: "Come to my arms, Henrik."" "You think that either choice is a bad one." "I'm also afraid." "I think that everything will be taken from me." "It's always been like this." "You and Ernst live in your world, which is, for me, elusive." "Do you understand, Anna?" "We could always put off the decision a few hours." "Good Night, Henrik." "Good Night." "I'll be right there!" "See you." "I get scared when I think that we know nothing of each other." "We should sit here and talk for a hundred days." "We haven't even kissed." "Should we kiss each other now?" "No, that can wait." "First, we should admit our faults." "No, I can't do that." "Then you'd run way." "Mamma says that I am stubborn and impatient." "That I am selfish and decadent." "My brother says that I have a difficult temperament." "What else can I come up with?" "Ernst calls me coquettish, I like to look at myself in the mirror." "Mamma says I'm too interested in boys." "Yes, as you've heard, there's no end to my faults." "My greatest fault is that I am confused." "That is not a fault?" "Yes, in fact, it is." "What do you mean?" "I am confused." "I often do only what people tell me to do." "I have so many feelings, which also make me confused." "I almost always have a bad conscience." "That sounds like a burden." "Now we're both sad." "Should we kiss each other now so we'll be happy again?" "Wait, there's one thing.. ." "No I'm getting tired of this silliness." "Now, we are presumably engaged." "We are now engaged." "No." "Aha, so we're not engaged?" "I knew it would be a mistake from the outset." "I have to leave." "We won't see each other any more." "You have somebody else." "Yes.. ." "You have no need to reproach yourself, actually." "You might have said something earlier." "But then everything was so unreal." "I understand why you didn't say anything." "What has happened to our beautiful future?" "I want to share my life with you, but I didn't know that yesterday." "Do you mean that you are contemplating leaving her?" "Yes, what's-her-name or whoever.. ." "Her name is Frida, she's a year older than me and comes from up north.." "What does she do?" "She's a waitress at Flustret." "Oh, a waitress.. ." "Is there anything wrong with that?" "No, not at all." "You have forgotten a serious fault - you are obviously stuck up." "How could I be so stupid as to go along with this game?" "You know what I'm going to do now?" "I'm going to go back to her and beg her forgiveness." "I'll tell her what we have said and beg her forgiveness." "Hey!" "Let me get by." "Have you already quarreled?" "You're not wasting any time." "Anna, my sweetheart, how did this happen?" "I am certain that I love him." "And Henrik?" "I am certain that he loves me too." "KNOCKING" "Hi!" "Are you in town?" "Are you sick?" "Come in." "Are you sick too?" "You look rather pitiful." "It's nothing." "How can you say something so stupid?" "I can see that there is something." "I'm sad." "Is there something you want to tell me?" "No." "It seems like there is." "Come here, and I'll give you a hug." "Are you afraid of catching a cold?" "Get undressed and come lay down." "You've made a scandal for us." "This is totally ridiculous." "Aunt Charlotta is a gossip and Mamma came here for no reason." "Having a man sleep over - is that nothing?" "Who invited him here?" "I did." "It was really me." "A young man who spends the night.. ." "... when parents are away is either arrogant or badly raised." "What's his name?" "Henrik Bergman." "How predictable!" "He wants to become a minister, without concerning himself with a girl's reputation." "Charlotta heard your voices through the walls." "And then what?" "We talked of our engagement." "I love him and I'm thinking of marrying him, if you want to know." "Did you, perhaps, sleep with him?" "No, but I would have if he wanted me to." "And if you got pregnant?" "Difficult at such a distance.. ." "I must remind you that you will have to wait until you are an adult." "May I suggest something?" "Anna will write a nice letter and Mamma will add a few pieces of advice." "Invite him to the summer house." "Never!" "The seducer!" "If someone is the seducer then it is me." "If Mamma's going to make a fuss then I'll really have a baby with him." "Then we'll have to get married." "You underestimate your mother's conviction." "After all, nothing has happened yet and Henrik and I are good friends." "I almost forgot!" "I have a letter for you." "It came this afternoon and I forgot to give it to you." "You will talk with Master Bergman." "Would you like to read your mail first?" "No, send him in." "It's you who wants me to speak to the boy." "I don't know how to start." "Yes you certainly do." "Would you like something to smoke?" "A cigar, a cheroot, or perhaps a cigarillo?" "Naturally, you may smoke your pipe." "Is that English tobacco?" "Yes." "English pipe tobacco is the best, the French is so harsh." "I can see the station building on the other side of the lake with my binoculars." "I entertain myself by monitoring arrivals and departures." "I have schedules for the express, the local, and the freight trains." "I can watch and compare." "A diversion for an old man who has lived with rails and locomotives." "There is nothing more beautiful than the new locomotive the Germans are building." "Perhaps you have no particular interest in locomotives?" "I haven't thought of them that way." "No, naturally you haven't." "How are your studies coming along?" "Thank you, well." "To think it takes so much studying to become a minister!" "What do you mean, sir?" "Well, what do I mean.. ." "Seen from a naïve, bourgeois point of view it seems to be more of a question of talent in becoming a minister." "One should be a... a fisher of souls." "One must have a conviction." "What kind of conviction?" "The belief in God's existence and that Jesus is his son." "Is that your conviction?" "Yes, I am a bit childlike, with a childlike viewpoint on faith." "Aren't you afraid of death?" "No." "Do you believe that there is life after death?" "Yes, that is my conviction." "My Goodness." "The confessions of sinners, and communion?" ""Jesus died for your sins."" "And punishment?" "Hell?" "Do you believe in Hell?" "You cannot say that you believe in one without the other." "All the infernal goings on around us.. ." "How does that jibe with the existence of God?" "We're satisfied with too short a perspective." "You speak as though you are as convinced as a true Jesuit." "When will you be finished?" "lf all goes well.. ." "... I'll be ordained in two years and then I'll be given a post." "No great shakes to begin with." "Not enough to start a family, I would guess?" "The church prefers that ministers get married." "The wife of a minister has an important role in the work of the congregation." "I suddenly feel tired and would like to lie down." "Is it because of me?" "No, not at all." "A sick man who seldom considers questions of eternity" "can be shaken by conversations concerning death and ultimate things." "I wasn't in any condition to speak with our guest." "I couldn't talk about the things you wanted." "Then I'll take care of it." "Everyone, look at the camera!" "Pappa shouldn't be smoking, or we won't see those behind him." ""That was the final action life demanded of her."" ""Karin Ingmarsdotter cried when the Dean's wife left."" ""Maybe it isn't right that we leave, she said."" ""She was happy that the Dean's wife had said that it was a good name."" ""That was the first and last time anyone saw Karin hesitate" "before the great undertaking."" "You little girls, pick up after yourselves." "Gustav, will you help Pappa?" "Oskar gets breakfast at 7." "That way you'll catch the train to Stockholm without a rush." "Anna, Ernst and Henrik wait." "We have something to talk about." "Good Night." "Good Night." "If Martha could please.. ." "Ernst has suggested that you three bicycle out to the pastures." "The plan was to spend the night." "I am naturally against your plans." "Mamma, please.. ." "Let me finish speaking!" "I am absolutely against your plans but I don't plan on forbidding you from setting them in motion." "My children claim that they are mature and will be responsible." "Your parents will await the consequences." "A fragile thread runs between the old and the young." "Us old folks are anxious to hold on to this connection." "The young easily reject something that doesn't fit." "I make no complaint, that's just the way it is." "Our role is to observe." "To make a long story short.. ." "I plan to be passive up to a point." "I expect to always talk about where I am, in relation to you." "Don't misunderstand me" " I'm always here, but I will always speak my mind." "Yes..." "Mamma understands the pleasures in saying such things." "It's very refined." "lf you could read my mind.. ." "If you could see into my heart as they say then you'd see neither menace nor refinement, as you put it." "You'd see an unreasonable love for you and your brother." "That's what you would see." "No, I think I'll fish for trout." "Would you like to join me?" "I'll be back at lunchtime and then we'll have some fresh caught fish." "See you!" "We have to be careful." "Promise to be careful!" "Are you staying home to study?" "I have neglected my religious history." "What does Anna say?" "She understands." "Perfect.. ." "Would you help me with a skein of yarn?" "Yes, certainly." "Will you be returning to Söderhamn in the morning to see your mother?" "I'm going directly to Uppsala." "The term doesn't start so early, does it?" "I have a make-up exam in religious history." "Have you been comfortable here at our house?" "To tell the truth I've been afraid and tense." "My dear... afraid of what?" "The Åkerblom's family is an alien world." "I feel like I've been put on a scale and found too light." "That's the way it is in all families." "We are by no means worse than others." "Maybe that makes it worse." "I feel unwelcome." "Do you really think so?" "I don't mean to be rude." "I feel barely tolerated, especially by you, Anna's mother." "I will try to be sincere even though I might hurt your feelings." "My antipathy has everything to do with Anna." "I know my daughter very well, I am convinced and I think your relationship will lead to catastrophe." "Yes, that might seem like an exaggeration." "Still, I feel obliged to use the word catastrophe." "I cannot picture a more impossible and disastrous combination." "Anna is a spoiled little girl, self-willed, strong-willed, emotionally strong tender-hearted, melancholy and cheerful at the same time." "She needs a mature man who will educate her with love and unselfish patience." "You are young with a truly limited insight into life" "and deep, early wounds, without healing or consolation." "Anna will come to doubt.. ." "May I put in a word?" "Yes, naturally." "I don't accept this discussion." "Your family reads Selma Lagerlöf in the evenings." "The author speaks of love as the only earthly miracle." "Does your family believe that this is there to make the sagas more attractive?" "I have lived quite some time and never seen a glimpse of a miracle." "Perfect." "Australia doesn't exist because Mrs. Åkerblom hasn't seen it." "The fact is that I, with all my power and means will block my daughter's amorous intrigues." "You cannot block Anna." "The future will show." "I will go to Anna and explain our discussion." "How is it going with your engagement?" "As far as I know it is still on." "Miss Strandberg has denied any break up." "Carl has done research." "Even before you came here, we knew the truth." "I'll say nothing to my daughter if we come to an agreement." "I need to write a letter." "Yes, naturally." "I have to explain this." "Do as you think best." "There will, in any case, be many tears." "May I ask a final question?" "Yes, go ahead." "Why did you let me come, Mrs. Åkerblom, when you already had full knowledge?" "I wanted to observe my daughter's love from up close." "The accident had already happened." "What do you mean by "accident"?" "I mean the same thing as you." "Mrs Åkerblom, you have made a mistake in judgment." "Go and write your letter and leave with the 3 o'clock train." "Anna won't be home until later." "Then I will be gone." "Master Bergman!" "Here are some sandwiches for your trip." "Thank you very much." "Mamma!" "Mamma?" "Where are you, Mamma?" "Mamma!" "I don't understand what is going on." "Mamma!" "Don't stand there making such a racket." "Come in and close the door." "He wrote that we'll never see each other." "He might have his reasons." "There are no sensible reasons written here." "Did you force him to, Mamma?" "No, I did not." "When I learned the situation, I advised him to give up, and never show his face again." "What, pray tell?" "If you don't tell me, I'll go and visit him again!" "Nothing will stop me." "You are pushing me." "What do you know, Mamma?" "If it is about Frida, he has already told me." "Listen to me, dear girl.. ." "Your brother Carl has absolute proof that" "Henrik Bergman still lives with this woman." "I refuse to go into detail, you must draw your own conclusions." "I sensed a discomfort surrounding this man." "He is much to be pitied." "No father, poverty, a difficult childhood." "All very disturbing." "I entertained a certain amount of pity, which made me doubtful." "You don't respond." "I don't understand what is going on." "What will you do?" "It is dinnertime." "Would you like to take something in your room?" "I will tell Lisen to bring up milk and sandwiches." "I'll never forgive you for this!" "Who won't you forgive?" "Is it me you won't forgive?" "Or your friend?" "Or perhaps life itself?" "Or God?" "Can't you just leave me alone?" "My poor, dear girl." "Stop with your pity!" "The year is 1909, and poor Henrik Bergman is studying to become a minister in Uppsala." "He is secretly engaged to Frida, a waitress at Flustret." "His good friend Ernst Åkerblom invites Henrik home one Sunday." "Ernst's father, Johan Åkerblom is old and sickly and the family is ruled, with a stern hand by the mother, Karin." "Henrik feels lost in the refined household, but is enamored of Ernst's sister the beautiful and lively Anna." "During an Uppsala summer, empty of its regular inhabitants, they meet" "Karin views the courtship with a critical eye." "She tells Henrik, she has decided to resist the relationship with all means available." "When he resists she pulls her trump card:" "The knowledge that he is engaged to Frida Strandberg." "Henrik is pushed away from Anna who is left alone with her anger and sadness." "Do you want to turn back?" "No, wait here." "Don't stand here watching over me." "No, you can't touch me." "We can at least talk about each other?" "You have misunderstood everything, Henrik." "I don't want to talk to you." "We have nothing more to say." "Can't you just leave me alone?" "You're scaring her." "Keep out of this!" "You're acting like an idiot." "We don't have time to stand around here." "Leave me alone, dear Henrik." "Just leave me alone!" "I can't go on living." "Don't be so dramatic!" "You can carry on, and so can l." "Talk with me, Anna." "I said don't touch me." "No, stay back." "You are awful." "To be moral is to bend to the laws of morality out of pure respect for those laws as they are put forth in the categorical imperative." "Behave as though your expression of will can act as a principle for creating a generalized law." "THE DOORBELL RINGS" "Thanks!" "Can I help you?" "No." "It was nice of you to come." "Your letter made me curious." "How are you?" "It's just a cold." "Please, have some mineral water." "That's kind of you, Miss Strandberg." "People have been getting sick more often this year." "It's the big strike." "When people are down they get sick." "You are going to be a nurse." "Yes, I have to go back to school." "I would have liked to do that, but I had to earn my keep.. ." "What can I get you, Miss Åkerblom?" "Hot chocolate with whipped cream." "Do you know this place?" "Pappa took us here on Saturdays." "What do you want from me?" "It has to do with Henrik." "I would like to ask you to take him back." "He's on the verge... of falling to pieces." "That sounds a bit strange when I say it so directly." "He studies long into the night and he's so pitiful I could cry." "I honestly don't know so much about your relationship." "He hasn't said anything." "Mostly, I've just guessed." "I'm trying not to be angry or hurt." "Nobody can help their feelings." "I can't help it that I get worked up or that I care for him even though he's weak." "I feel like we are three poor souls who are in pain and are weeping in private." "I need to do something about it for my own sake." "I won't let myself be hurt and humiliated." "He lies in my bed and cries out for someone else." "It is humiliating for both him and me." "Miss Åkerblom, I'd like to say something about what I think about all the time." "He has no proper life, the poor soul so nothing means anything." "No, I have to go if I'm to be on time." "What should I do?" "Take him, Miss Åkerblom." "You just need to make up your mind." "Henrik is the finest and best man I know." "The nicest and kindest.. ." "I know no one better." "I wish him all the best." "Things have never gone well for him in his miserable life." "He needs someone to care for so he can stop thinking so badly of himself." "I really must be going, otherwise I'll get yelled at." "It doesn't matter so much, since I'll be quitting." "It might be nice to know that I'll be leaving town." "I got a job in a hotel.. ." "I'm paying!" "I'll pay at the register if you'd like to sit a while longer." "Perhaps we shouldn't parade around together." "Farewell, Miss Åkerblom." "Be careful with that cough." "Yes, one more thing.. ." "Never tell Henrik.. ." "I mean.. ." "My letter and our conversation." "It would come to no good." "It would just make things worse for him." "Dear Henrik, I would like us to.. ." "Shouldn't you take some Emser salts?" "Let me feel your forehead.. ." "You are feverish." "I'll call the manager." "I won't let you go in this condition." "Leave me alone." "Don't call, she hates it when we drag our feet." "Just some Ember salts and I'll be fine.. ." "Dear, dear Henrik.. ." "We should.. ." "Pappa!" "Sweet, darling Pappa, can't you take care of me?" "I can't do a thing and don't know what I should do." "Come now, and sit down with your Pappa." "I must take responsibility.. ." "... but I can't bear it." "I'll put you to bed, my dear girl then I'll call Dr. Fürstenberg and then your manager." "Then I'll give you something to help you sleep and we'll decide what" "Won't that be better, my girl?" "Yes." "KNOCKING" "Hello." "Forgive my unannounced visit." "It's damned cold in here!" "I hope you don't mind me keeping my fur on." "Would you please be seated?" "I said, please be seated." "I won't take up your valuable time." "What is this all about?" "My family feels that you should be informed and I have been chosen to do it." "Say what you have to say and leave!" "I have been sent here to tell you the following.. ." "My little sister, Anna, is sick." "She has tuberculosis." "One lung has been stricken and there is a danger for the other lung." "At present she is staying at home." "When her health allows it, she will go to a sanatorium in Switzerland where they will give her adequate care." "My sister tells us that she wants nothing more to do with you." "She has asked expressly for you to refrain from writing or telephoning or waiting for her outside our house." "Or in any way trying to approach her." "Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name" "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." "A branch can appear healthy on the outside adorned with fine leaves but lacking fruit." "The fruit will not be borne without a true change of mind." "Neither would it come without seriously taking refuge.. ." "... in Jesus Christ." "Good Evening, Pastor." "Good Bye, Pastor." "Keep it up this weekend, Pastor." "I don't understand what you are doing with your toenails?" "You should go to a podiatrist." "Never, I am no Sodomite." "I will remove this callus." "lf you take it away I'll lose my balance." "I already have trouble walking." "Good Night." "Good Night..." "Thanks!" "I enjoy seeing you like this." "I'm doing this so you won't become lf you have a clear conscience you don't need to clean your feet." "When you take those pills you look like a hen with a sore throat." "And then you blink.. ." "Now..." "What's bothering you now?" "It's.. ." "... Ernst." "It was you who wanted him to move out." "And our little girl who is gone.. ." "in a hospital far away." "You should bring her home now." "Would you be upset if we took a swing through Italy?" "It would be amusing, to see Amalfi once again." "Would you like to join us?" "You know that I can't." "We could take it easy." "Imagine, Amalfi in the Spring!" "You'll be travelling, not me." "Anna would be so happy." "Then you'll be gone quite some time." "Four weeks, maximum." "Do you think she can wait so long?" "What do you mean?" "I only mean that there might be something pulling her." "Now that she's healthy." "I don't understand." "What is it, Johan?" "You weren't home when the afternoon mail arrived." "There's a letter from Anna to Ernst." "Posted from Weimersville four days ago." "Ernst is coming home from Norway next week." "No reason to forward it." "Anna forgot to seal the envelope or did it so sloppily that it opened by itself." "That's nothing remarkable." "It happens all the time.. ." "In the envelope there is another letter." "Another letter?" "On the outside it says.. ." "..."To Henrik Bergman - to be passed on, since I don't know his address"." "That letter was well glued." "It was sealed.. ." "... but I opened it." "What could Anna have to say?" "That's simple." "A little steam from the kettle.. ." "Have you read it?" "No, I'm a bit ashamed, perhaps." "If we read it, it is in Anna's best interest." "Or from jealousy, or because we are furious that she has gone behind our backs." "Or because we don't accept this young man." "You read it, I can't make out Anna's handwriting." "I'll read it out loud.. ." ""Everything is so long ago." "I know that I was childish and spoiled."" ""The time in the sanatorium, together with those the same age as me, only much sicker".. ." "..."has forced me to re-think."" "Stop reading." "lf you won't listen then I'll read it to myself." "This isn't right." ""I am responsible for you, Henrik."" ""A responsibility I couldn't bear and tried to free myself from."" ""I was sick and couldn't think clearly."" ""It was comforting to sink into a fever and be taken care of."" ""I was convinced you had lied and that I'd never be able to trust you."" ""I don't know, but if you still, after almost two years".. ." ""lf you still have the same feelings for me".. ." "..."that you had when we were".. ." "..."when we were together".. ." "You have yourself to blame." "..." in the pasture when we made love."" ""It is so easy to profess love." "I love you, dearest Pappa."" ""I love you, little brother." "But no one knows what it means."" ""Therefore I daren't say that I love you, Henrik."" ""But if you will take my hand and help me through my sorrow" "Then maybe we can teach each other what that word means."" "Now we know more than we wanted." "Yes... now it will get difficult." "We can't just keep the letter." "He can't have it." "I beg you, Karin." "lf she finds out.. ." "Letters get lost every day." "That won't happen." "What is this idiocy?" "You're deceiving yourself.. ." "Perhaps not, but I'll say something very important." "Sometimes I am so positive that something is right or wrong." "I am so positive that it is wrong between Anna and Henrik." "I'm going to burn the letter to Ernst and the one to Henrik." "I will go to Italy with Anna and stay there all summer, if necessary." "Are you listening to what I am saying, Johan?" "Karin.. ." "Johan?" "Yes." "Can't we still be nice to each other even though we disagree on this?" "This is life or death, Karin." "Exactly, and I don't want you to pull away." "I'll take responsibility." "Just don't distance yourself." "It is life and death for you and me." "For us?" "If you go through with this plan then you will hurt Anna." "If you hurt Anna then you hurt me." "If you hurt me then you hurt yourself." "How can you say that I am hurting Anna?" "You're preventing her from living a life that is hers." "You can make her insecure, but you can't change a thing." "You can destroy, but you can't change." "Are you so sure?" "Sometimes..." "Not particularly often.. ." "... I'm thinking about the future." "We know that I will soon pass on." "We know it even if we never mention it." "You'll be left alone to steer and make order in your kingdom." "I think you'll be isolated." "Don't make yourself lonelier than necessary, Karin." "I can't possibly be more lonely than I am already." "Our children will leave us, that is true." "I can't complain." "This had to happen sometime." "We haven't prepared ourselves and we're taken aback." "I have held the children with open hands and protected them without imprisoning them, neither Ernst nor Anna." "You can't say that I have forced them." "I have sat in my study." "Sometimes listening for footsteps and voices." "Then I hear the door to the coat closet and I know that Anna is home from school." "And then my heart begins to pound." "Will she skip in and swing open the door?" "Will she come to me in my study hug me and tell me some important thing?" "That was a long time ago, Johan." "Yes." "It is not worth lamenting over something that will never happen again." "The main thing is that they are healthy and happy with their lives." "You and I are mostly used up and have to go into retreat." "You're still trying to control her life." "How is that going?" "I can't just stand idle and watch how accidents pass before my eyes." "So you have decided?" "Decided?" "That would mean that I had a moment of doubt." "Good Night, my friend." "Good Night." "It is so thorough, so disciplined and even still, poetic." "Isn't it beautiful, Anna?" "Are you tired?" "Perhaps just a little." "You should order some breakfast in your room, like me." "Should we eat in the hotel, or outside?" "It's up to you, Mamma." "Then we'll eat in the hotel and then take a long nap afterward." "Did you know that Count Snoilsky used to live here?" "I knew him and met him many times." "A fine, but sad man." "I received a letter from your brother Oskar." "Did I already tell you this morning?" "Everything is fine at Trädgårdsgatan." "Pappa misses us." "He misses you in particular but he never complains." "We should try to call home." "Why don't we hear from Ernst?" "Ernst?" "You know how he is." "But I wrote him seven weeks ago." "Don't get worried." "I'm not worried." "Pappa and I write daily." "I want to go home." "Can't we go straight home tomorrow?" "But we have our travel plans." "Can't things be changed once they are decided upon?" "What would the Egermans say?" "They are your friends, not mine." "Elna is actually your childhood friend." "I don't care about Elna." "I don't give a damn about Elna." "You are like a disobedient child." "We can't just drop the Egermans, they'll be sad and hurt." "You go to Florence, and I'll go home." "That's just stupid!" "We'll do exactly what we agreed to do." "It's cold and wet at home." "The doctor wants us in the warmth until you adjust." "We'll be home after mid-summer." "KNOCKING" "KNOCKING" "Mamma!" "Un telegramma per la signora." "Grazie." "It's a telegram." "Can I see?" "Pappa died last night." "He was alone and it was at night." "Mamma, come and sit down." "He was alone and I wasn't there." "I left him alone." "Don't think like that, mamma." "You can't go on thinking like this." "Mamma!" "When Pappa asked if I wanted to marry even though he was almost twice my age and had three grown sons" "I decided without a moment of thought." "I didn't love him." "I was not fond of him, I was sure of that." "But I did like him." "I felt sorry for him because he was so terribly alone with his lazy housekeepers who tricked him out of his money." "The neglected home and the three boys in need of discipline." "I also felt a bit alone so I thought that we could lessen one another's loneliness." "That's not such a bad thing." "No, Anna, it was a mistake." "One loneliness is acceptable." "But two is hard to bear." "But one should never look back." "Then you and Ernst came along.. ." "It was like a salvation." "Ernst was Mamma's little boy and Anna, Pappa's little girl." "Is that right?" "But Mamma.. ." "Yes, maybe you are right." "No, let's get some rest." "Yes." "Mamma..." "How are you, Mamma?" "There is something you must know.. ." "... in regards to you." "We can wait on that." "It's best you tell me now, what is so important." "In regards to Henrik.. ." "Aha.. ." "You wrote to him." "Yes, that's right." "I wrote to him." "I haven't received an answer, the letter must have gotten lost." "No, it wasn't lost." "I have to tell you.. ." "I took that letter, read it and burned it." "I destroyed the letter." "No, Mamma!" "I must speak out since your father warned me." "He said it was unfair, and that we shouldn't get involved." "It would make things worse." "He warned me." "I have no explanations." "I thought it was in your best interest." "Mamma!" "Now that Johan is gone I need to tell you what happened." "I don't want to know any more." "I can't even ask your forgiveness because I know that you will never forgive me." "I don't think I will." "In any case, now you know." "When we get home I will find Henrik, and tell him everything." "I only ask this one thing:" "Don't tell him that I burned the letter." "Why not?" "lf you marry Henrik.. ." "You understand that telling him will make the hate insurmountable." "We still have to live with each other." "Why?" "Now you know." "Yes, now I do." "Shall we go to bed?" "We need a little sleep, tomorrow will be a long day." "You look different." "You do too." "You are prettier." "You look so sad." "I've missed you." "I'm coming now, Henrik." "Is this for real?" "Yes, for real." "I'm coming now." "I want to give you something." "Open it up." "It's nothing special." "I bought it in Amalfi." "Mary at the Annunciation." "It's pretty." "Your father died." "Yes." "The funeral is the day after tomorrow." "Is it difficult for you?" "I lived for his love, if you can understand that." "I never gave it a thought, except when it troubled me." "Now I am sad that I was childish and ungrateful." "It's Ernst." "I asked him to come because I couldn't bear coming alone." "Ernst wanted to bet five crowns that you would be home." "Here you are, and Ernst has won five crowns." "I temporarily took over a congregation here." "I'll apply for an assignment in Norrland." "You're not alone anymore." "No, I can change" "No, don't be so stupid." "We'll go up first and look around." "The Rector is old." "We'll check him out too." "My pay will be meager." "Listen to me!" "We'll get engaged as soon as the funeral is over." "We'll order the rings this afternoon and then you'll write to the Rector that you and your future wife are coming to inspect the rectory the church and the Rector himself." "Then we'll get married." "We'll have a splendid wedding." "What are you looking at?" "I'm looking at you." "We have waited so long for this, Henrik." "What does your mother say about this?" "Since Italy, it has been of less significance." "Has something happened?" "Henrik.. ." "I thought that lovers should promise to be sincere to each other until death." "That they shouldn't hold secrets." "But that's stupid." "I don't want to ever demand that you reveal your secrets." "The truth?" "The truth is something else." "We must be truthful." "We can't forget the kissing." "No, the kissing is important." "I have asked you to come here to discuss some decisions." "First I'd like to give Henrik a warm welcome into our family." "I would like now to put our conflicts and bitterness behind us." "If we try hard both conciliation and friendship can be possible." "We have been to Elgérus the lawyer and taken up your father's last will." "If I have understood the reactions correctly everyone, without exception has accepted the dispositions and found them written with care." "I appreciate our unity." "During Johan's life, we discussed what would happen with this house if Johan should pass away before me." "He explained his firm desire that I, alone, would be the house's owner." "The remaining family members would be compensated with stocks and capital." "Does anyone have any questions?" "No one dares say a word when Karin makes her decrees." "I'm just saying what everyone thinks." "Svea does not represent the family's point of view." "Didn't Gustav say just yesterday that Mamma is lethally dangerous?" "Svea is lying and she knows it." "Svea's hatred toward Mamma knows no bounds" "I will die soon enough and I'm the only one who dares to tell the truth." "Dear Svea!" "Is that all you have to say?" "Shut your mouth, Svea, before your wickedness splits you in two." "Nobody believes in your powers anymore, your body is poisoned with wickedness." "Personally, I have no objections." "As far as I understand it, Mamma Karin can do whatever she damned well wants with this house." "Have we ever stopped to think of her?" "No, but you've all cringed and smiled." "And mocked her when her back is turned." "Gustav, Carl, Oskar Åkerblom." "The Three Musketeers!" "If you are planning on continuing this bullshit, I'm considering retreating." "Henrik is here for the first time and for his sake and Anna's we should limit the worst of these invectives." "One might say that Pappa's death has pulled the cork from the bottle." "Why isn't Mamma saying anything?" "What would you like me to say?" "You have always had your mutual conflicts." "Now that Pappa is dead you all pounce on me." "I completely understand." "Pardon, it is Svea, alone.. ." "Sometimes I wonder what the family would be like if I hadn't married into it, and been complicit." "It is an amusing thought." "I was so eager and wanted the best." "Order, cleanliness, togetherness, training." "Good intentions." "Don't think that I am bitter." "I'm just thinking." "What would have happened to Mamma had she not taken care of us?" "You ask good questions, Carl." "What would have happened to me?" "I would have continued teaching." "Continued to offer other people's children a bit of good manners and training." "I have never doubted the truth in my actions." "I have, perhaps, acted falsely in some trivial things but the main thing is that I have nothing to reproach myself with." "Shall we have some coffee?" "Certainly." "We aren't so dreadful as we seem." "We can be quite pleasant." "Now, Anna and Henrik must come for an engagement dinner here." "What a strange boy!" "Put all the grudges behind us." "Henrik must tell Oskar." "Our last meeting was quite unpleasant but I felt obliged to be drawn to the extreme." "Henrik and Anna please, do come have dinner at our place." "Please excuse my outburst." "he doctor says my medicine throws me off balance" "Henrik shouldn't believe that Aunt Svea is so unpleasant." "I warned you and now you have been caught." "Blame yourself!" "I'm warning your future mate, but it is useless." "What have you been drinking, Carl?" "Well, certainly not the roses." "Come now, let's go!" "Shouldn't we have the coffee first?" "No, Anna." "Goodbye, Aunt Karin." "Thank you for this day." "You'll be coming for dinner?" "You are coming back?" "No, we won't be back for dinner." "We're going out for a good time." "Enjoy yourselves." "Do you have money?" "Thanks, Mamma." "We'll manage." "Oh, your fiancée is even more beautiful in person than on the card you sent!" "I do hope you'll be happy with my boy!" "Henrik, are you happy?" "No, how idiotic of me." "Now you'll be embarrassed." "I thought Anna might stay in Henrik's old room." "I have a lodger, but he has been nice enough to move out for a couple of days." "He smokes cigars." "I aired it out, but you can still smell it." "I don't notice a thing." "Oh, yes you do." "It could be nice to sleep in your fiancé's old room." "Then I'll sleep on the ottoman in the dining room." "No, I'll sleep there." "I'll lay like a drawn sword between you two lovers." "Mamma, you're being silly, I'll take the ottoman." "End of discussion." "Listen to him!" "Such a dictator.. ." "Is he like this with you too, Anna?" "Or is it only with his mother that he makes such commands?" "Well, I've put tea and sandwiches on the table." "Mamma's sandwiches are artistic delicacies." "Now Henrik, you're playing with me." "My doctor says I should always think about my weight, because of my asthma." "Dear child!" "Here's Henrik." "He was so small!" "Poor little Henrik." "Oh Heavens, Anna!" "This is so embarrassing - I was already "fat Mamma"." "That's right, we were all fat in my family." "And then came thin little Henrik who we hugged and coddled." "Do you remember when we played "church"?" "You were the minister and we" "You were so nice and sweet, we wanted to gobble you up." "You were cheerful and friendly and polite." "Then, moaning and misery." "You never wanted to play with other children." "I invited his schoolmates home, but Henrik would lock himself in the bathroom." "Well, dear Anna.. ." "Now you will take care of him." "My word, life hasn't always been so merciful.. ." "Now Henrik has become a minister as I had hoped, and that is the main thing." "I can't complain.. ." "Please don't cry, Mamma." "Can't we be happy this evening?" "Yes." "Aunt Alma could come and stay with us for long stretches." "We'll have plenty of space at the rectory." "Dear Mamma, we'll never abandon you." "The hard times are over, everything will be better now." ""The hard times are over"." "You speak as though you know." "What do you know about my life?" "I'm not planning on being a sponge." "I'm not particularly shrewd, but I'm not dumb either." "You two will live your lives." "I'll finish mine." "Such as it is, such as it will be." "That must be Freddy, an old friend." "Please excuse me!" "Good Day, Henrik." "Well, it can't have been yesterday!" "It must be ten years or so?" "Congratulations on your ordination!" "Thanks." "Anna." "Good Day, Miss Åkerblom." "I can see that Henrik has inherited his father's sense of female beauty." "Henrik's father was one of my closest friends but he was younger than I." "I was the same age as his grandfather." "I never knew my grandfather." "No, I know that." "I got to know Henrik's grandmother." "Your grandmother once spoke to me about you, Henrik." "She thought that your grandfather and his family committed a terrible crime against both your mother and you." "Thoughts of the insecurity and destitution, of both of you, made her sick." "She also tried to explain her powerlessness." "Then she died, poor soul." "Yes." "Did you see her before she passed away?" "She really needed.. ." "She was in the Academic Hospital." "I was reading for my exams and kept putting it off." "Did you see your grandfather?" "We met, but we had nothing to say to one another." "I was at the funeral, but I didn't see you there." "I didn't go to my grandmother's funeral." "I understand." "Farewell." "Good Night, Aunt Alma." "Thanks for having us here." "It has been so nice." "Will you turn out the lights?" "I'll do that later." "Don't fall asleep and forget." "I won't." "Anna is a sweet girl." "Yes." "Anna is a very sweet girl." "And beautiful." "A real princess." "You must take good care of her." "Right now at all seems like a dream." "I don't think it's just me." "You shouldn't blame yourself about this thing with your grandmother." "No one is more innocent than you." "Good Night, my dear boy." "Hi." "Hi, come here!" "Oh, such cold feet!" "They'll be warm soon enough." "I've always had warm feet." "I have to put them outside the blanket and pull them in later." "Nice." "You and your delights.. ." "I'll have to teach you." "What will you teach me?" "Now?" "Yes, Please!" "Your mother can hear." "To think that I'm lying in my old bed cuddling with you." "We can't sleep together." "I'm not sure Mamma would serve us coffee in bed." "Good Night." "Good Night." "Don't forget me!" "I've already started thinking about you." "Dear Lord, forgive my sins today and for all days." "Dear Lord, protect and bless my boy." "Dear Lord, forgive me that I can't love this girl." "Dear Lord, take her away from Henrik's life." "If I am mistaken, if my thoughts are darkened with spite punish me, not him or her." "I have something Anna should have." "Mamma, you've been crying." "Her face is red and swollen." "She's always swollen, and she likes to cry." "I received this medallion, from Henrik's father, when we got engaged." "It was very expensive, but he didn't care about money." "There is a big A engraved on it so Anna should take this as a gift from Henrik's father as though he were here." "May I hang it around your neck, Anna?" "It is too beautiful." "Hush now, silly girl." "It is a simple gift, You are certainly used to better." "The poor Theology student, Henrik Bergman and the middle class girl, Anna Åkerblom meet in Uppsala in 1909 and fall in love with each other." "Anna's brother Ernst is their confidant but her mother Karin opposes them and forces a deal once she learns that Henrik is secretly engaged to Frida." "Anna gets melancholic and dismisses Henrik." "In a sanatorium in Switzerland she slowly recovers from tuberculosis." "In the meantime, back in Uppsala, Henrik receives his ordination." "Anna's parents hope that this love will dissipate but they get proof of the opposite when they find a letter to Henrik." "Karin decides to burn the letter, even as Johan warns of the consequences." "Mother and daughter are in Italy when they hear of Johan's death." "Plagued with guilt Karin confesses about the burnt letter." "Back in Sweden Anna visits Henrik." "She feels a new freedom, and they become engaged." "They visit Henrik's mother, Alma who finds it difficult to conceal her dismay over her son's choice." "Anna and Henrik are unconcerned." "They plan their future together." "Forsboda coming up!" "Are you the minister?" "I'll drive you to the rectory." "There was no mention of a second party." "This is my fiancée." "You can get off here." "We've waited all day." "Welcome to you both!" "My name is Magda Säll I'm the rectory's housekeeper." "Welcome!" "This is Rector Gransjö." "So here you are!" "Yes..." "The train was delayed." "I'll go get the coffee." "The time should really be five past four, but all the clocks here are off." "It is must be linked to the subterranean magnetic fields." "The only clock that shows the correct time is mine." "It appears to be wholly unaffected by the subterranean powers." "It's ten past four by my watch." "Well well..." "Well..." "Yes, that could be so." "Yes, Magda should be here with the coffee." "I won't be having any, as I must prepare myself." "We'll be having dinner with Nordenson, the manager." "I need to take a little nap." "Welcome, please be seated." "Thanks." "Sorry it took so long, here comes the coffee." "We'll be dining at the Nordensons, which won't be much fun, after all that has happened." "Are you "schon im Bilde", as they say in German?" "Then I won't go into details." "What happened?" "No one knows for sure..." "One thing is clear - the mill is on its last legs." "Nordenson has gotten mixed up in certain "affairs"." "There is talk of prison." "This past year has been a tangled mess of rumors and other stories." "I don't want to sit here and gossip." "Now, I'd like to show you to your rooms." "The young lady will stay in the Bishop's room." "The minister will stay in the wing." "Dearest, beloved Anna, who will be my wife before God..." "When we are apart" "I'm gripped with the worry that I will never see you again." "Cheers!" "Cheers, minister." "Cheers, captivating young lady." "Youth and beauty, is what we thirst for, here in the wilderness." "Cheers!" "How is it going at the factory?" "Ask the administrator!" "This is awful." "The furnace, the rolling mill and the steam hammer were all shut down today." "The workers gathered in the warehouse but were chased away by security." "Then they broke into one of the condemned houses near the falls." "I went there to confront the police but then the administrator told me that the workers could stay there if only they turned the agitators away and started their work again." "What is happening?" "The Rector..." "It is unfortunate that the young minister has received no political education before being released into the market." "What do you think?" "If the minister had been informed of the situation, he would know that we haven't had a week's peace since the big strike." "We now have a new generation of loudmouths, agitators and criminal elements." "They put themselves between us and our workers." "And live with class hatred" "Rabble and riff-raff!" "They want to take what is mine away from me." "They want to send me packing down the road." "Let's state it clearly:" "they want to kill me and my family." "Let there be no doubt..." "Their aggression will be reciprocated." "I can get out my rifle, and shoot them like the mad dogs that they are." "Let's not mince words, minister..." "We might want an enemy with shinier weapons but that is too much to expect of a mob with a taste for blood." "I don't want to bring up this question." "The ladies already feel a bit uncomfortable." "My wife gives me an earful on my days off because I demand political conscience from a minister." "I didn't know that the situation had gotten so inflamed." "That is a remarkable word, which makes it sound like a sickness." "It is not a sickness." "It is a revolution." "We, who are sitting here, are the losers." "Our heads will roll." "Now my husband is being too macabre!" "Let's stop this meaningless discussion." "Coffee is being served in the salon." "For my, and the rest of my guests' sake" "I want to thank you for an excellent meal." "Cheers and thanks!" "Cheers." "Read it this evening." "Is it dreary?" "No, it mostly concerns love." "Excuse me, there is something I need to speak to you about." "Will you be offering confirmation instruction?" "I expect so." "That's good." "I desperately want my child to be confirmed." "That shouldn't be a problem." "It's a huge problem, since the child's father does not want it, under any circumstances." "He gets angry when I bring up the subject." "It is an absurd anger." "I don't understand why." "I can't discuss it with the rector, since they are friends." "He'll certainly take my husband's side." "How peculiar." "There is so much that has gotten strange over the years." "Come, let's go in to the others." "They might start to think..." "When we are apart" "I'm gripped with the worry that I will never see you again." "Your hands, your smile, your voice, all of your small body." "I try to recall everything about you, but my fear is too great." "You are suddenly gone." "I will be your unborn child." "I will be caged up in an anxious womb under your heart where it is warm." "I feel jealous of our children who will sleep inside you." "Pardon me if I seem melodramatic but I am afraid of the prospect of everything big and new which awaits us." "Personally, I don't approve of the chapter's decision to employ an extra minister." "Iets not stand in the way of their happiness." "No, that would be beyond me." "It's beautiful here!" "Of course..." "You need to make sure children don't go down there." "The fence fell down this past winter." "Shouldn't a new one be made?" "Yes, I guess so." "Welcome." "Yes, it will be equipped." "I have demanded running water." "The chimney will be rebuilt and the stove replaced." "The floor needs replacing too, it's rotten." "The kitchen will be constructed to Miss Åkerbloms satisfaction." "The maid's quarters..." "They'll have to sleep head to foot." "Otherwise, a cot could be placed in the kitchen." "If you would trust me, I could get a couple of hard-working girls." "Do we need two?" "Usually." "In a minister's house there is always unexpected work." "The carpenter wants to make two rooms here but I have opposed that." "Ministers need one large room for gatherings." "I have suggested that we build a large tiled stove here." "We'll make it warm and cozy." "The staircase needs rebuilding." "Strange as it sounds, the south side faces north and the kitchen faces south." "That seems a bit backward?" "Yes, but I didn't build it." "The guest room..." "Otherwise, the top floor is in good condition." "It just needs paint and wallpaper." "The staircase isn't sturdy." "The bedroom is small but there is a washroom and the view of the waterfall is beautiful." "The study and the children's room can certainly be switched." "All can be taken care of, morning sun or evening sun..." "Where is my study?" "Yes, I want to know where I will keep house." "I have an equal workload with my husband - and unpaid." "Where will I write, read and do the family's accounting?" "I am used to my own room." "This is actually a demand." "It isn't so usual that the minister's wife gets her own room." "Well then, how could I know that?" "Couldn't the guest room work as your study?" "Henrik will take the guest room, I want to be near the children's room." "It would be very distracting with all this running back and forth." "The minister needs to be undistracted when he is preparing his sermons." "Then he can put cotton in his ears!" "Does this need to be resolved immediately?" "Mr. Jakobsson and I will go check the outhouse." "I'm only joking, Henrik." "Henrik?" "No need to be so melancholy." "Please laugh, Henrik." "It's no big disaster?" "We will have a beautiful home." "Please laugh, or I'll think you are upset with me." "I wanted us to be alone when we entered the church." "Look at that, shall we see how it sounds?" "I think it must have been originally a greenhouse." "The organ needs repairs." "Anna..." "Yes, my friend?" "I want us..." "What do you want?" "When we get married..." "Can we let Gransjö preside?" "Of course, if you'd like." "Here." "Here?" "Here, in our unfinished church." "I don't understand..." "Do you mean we should hold our wedding here?" "Just you and me, the Rector and two witnesses." "Couldn't we do that?" "We're getting married at Uppsala Cathedral." "We'll have a proper wedding with bridesmaids and an academic choir with family and friends for dinner." "We can't just change all that." "We've already worked it all out." "You have worked it all out." "You wanted the academic choir." "You and Ernst set the program." "I think you should forget about that." "Is that impossible?" "Yes, it is." "Why is it impossible?" "Because I want a proper wedding." "I want a big party, to celebrate and be joyful." "And the wedding I am proposing...?" "Let's stop this discussion." "Otherwise we'll start arguing." "I'm not arguing." "No, but I am." "Couldn't you consider it?" "I have considered it." "We already decided." "You said you wanted a wedding as grand as our happiness." "You should have told me before, but maybe you were too timid." "We'll be living here, don't you understand?" "That's why it is so important that we begin our life in this church." "Important for you, not for me." "Don't you understand what I am saying?" "I don't want to understand." "If you loved me you would." "You're being silly." "I could say that if you loved me, then you would let me have my party." "There's no limit to the fact that you are spoiled." "Don't you see that?" "I'll tell you exactly what I see." "You don't like my family." "You want to humiliate my mother in a hurting but sophisticated way." "That's it..." "Admit it, Henrik!" "Amazing how you can misinterpret things." "Mean and remarkable." "But now I know that you are putting your family before me." "You're being ridiculous!" "I've nearly killed my mother trying to get to you." "So I ask you for an absurd little sacrifice..." "Sometimes you seem so disturbingly lower class." "You pretend to be worse than you are." "You're always playing up and making more out of your poverty and your childhood." "I remember when I said that Frida was a waitress." "I recall this tone of yours, and your expression." "There's no need for dirty shirts and holes in your socks or dandruff on your collar or dirty nails." "You don't keep yourself clean, and sometimes you smell of sweat!" "You've gone too far." "You can't take the truth." "I can't take your cruelty." "This is good..." "Good that this has happened before our wedding." "Now we know where each other stands." "We nearly made a big mistake." "God, forgive me." "Henrik..." "Henrik, forgive me." "I have said terrible things." "You..." "Can you forgive me?" "Henrik?" "You have to forgive me." "Henrik?" "Get out of here!" "I never want to see you again." "You disgust me!" "Disappear!" "You're being ridiculous." "Now I'm beginning to understand why my mother was afraid of you." "Thank God that you got out of it with a clumsy apology!" "My goodness, how crude you can be!" "You are a liar." "You don't even know yourself, that you are lying." "Go find your waitress, Frida Strandberg." "She'll make the perfect minister's wife!" "Yes, that just great..." "Now I'm beginning to be aware of my own life." "I was dreaming, now I'm awake." "Here I am, in a collapsing house, out in the wilderness." "This doesn't make any sense." "A strange man is yelling at me." "Yes, this is totally insane." "We were to have children..." "Three children." "How are we supposed to go on living after this?" "I don't know." "We had love's capital and we used it all up." "Yes, that's right." "I don't care about the ceremony." "It can be wherever." "The North Pole..." "I don't care either, it's all the same to me." "Forget about getting married." "I could be your housekeeper." "Henrik?" "I'm exhausted, Anna." "Me too." "How do we get out of here?" "Come here and sit next to me." "Come here!" "You're not going to hit me?" "You're ice-cold." "Are you freezing?" "Do you think we've learned anything from this?" "Yes, maybe to be more cautious." "More protective of what we have." ""l, Henrik Bergman, take you, Anna Åkerblom"... I, Henrik Bergman, take you, Anna Åkerblom to be my lawful wedded wife to love you in sickness and in health and as a token..." "..."I give you this ring." -..." "I give you this ring." ""l, Anna Åkerblom, take you, Henrik Bergman"... I, Anna Åkerblom, take you, Henrik Bergman "to be my lawful wedded husband to love you in sickness and in health" to love you in sickness and in health." "Nurse Sellberg sends her greetings." "Thanks, send her my regards!" "Oh, how wonderful for you." "What a celebration!" "Could I be alone with my daughter?" "What a lovely wedding, Mrs. Åkerblom!" "Thanks." "I'm a bit moved, I think." "It's too bad Pappa didn't..." "I think that he is with us now." "Do you think so?" "Mamma, there is something I have to say." "Yes?" "We cancelled our honeymoon." "Really, what are the plans now?" "Are you disappointed?" "Dear child, your honeymoon" "Henrik and I can go to Italy another year." "Naturally, what will you do instead?" "we'll go to Norrland." "Tomorrow?" "Yes, early." "Are you disappointed now?" "No, not disappointed, I understand." "Then you can oversee the repairs at the rectory." "That's perfect." "Will you come to the summer house in July?" "Yes, definitely." "At least a week." "But we had agreed on three weeks." "I think Henrik wants to get started a bit earlier than planned." "I want to be with him from the start." "It's important for us." "Yes, I understand perfectly." "I had to indulge him on this." "Henrik has had to indulge me so much." "Has he?" "Yes, but we won't talk about that now." "No, Anna." "You could try to like Henrik for my sake?" "What's past is past." "I wish it was." "What have you been up to, little sister!" "What a wedding..." "Would you like this?" "Yes, please." "Whoa!" "Yes, whoa..." "You can say that again!" "Come and sit on my lap." "Then my dress will get wrinkly." "Then I'll lay down." "Why are you looking at me like that?" "When I look at you and enjoy your giddy beauty" "I get cosmic visions." "I see the universe, galaxies, and the planets' crazy polka..." "You seem well, brother Carl?" "Yes, splendid." "You stand there and all the world's beauty streams through you." "I am blinded." "Do you know why?" "No." "You nullify meaninglessness." "Right now, at this very moment, my little sister you nullify the galaxy's icy void the universe's unforgiving emptiness." "PSALM" "OK, one more time..." "Mrs. Almers must stay in bed until the fever has passed." "I'll give you this medicine." "Take two pills, twice a day." ""You must go home, there is nothing to eat here."" "And then Jesus said: "What do we have to eat?"" ""We have five loaves of bread and two fish."" ""And then Jesus took the bread and the fish and blessed them."" "Here..." "Can you chat a bit today?" "...Jesus paid more attention to that which is good, than that which is evil." "His heart was filled with compassion for mankind sprung from an unconditional love for God." "Good Day, Mrs. Tallrot." "You can hang your coats there." ""They were disappointed Seryozha because he wasn't coming along in his studies."" ""It couldn't be said that he wasn't gifted."" ""He was, to the contrary, more gifted, as his teacher pointed out"" ""To his father, it appeared as though he lacked the willpower."" "I'm almost finished." "Do you know this one?" "401." ""Receive with piety, the solemn order of grace", J. O. Wallin." "What about this one?" "Listen... 242, "God, our God, for all the world"." "And this one..." "No, I've never heard that one." "Yes you have, Henrik..." "No..." "HUMMING" "No." "From our wedding?" "Not the one in church." "When we danced the wedding waltz." "Ah, I forgot that one." "I'll ask my wife to call a doctor." "The boy's only caught a cold!" "He's had the cold a long time." "We'll do this and everything will be alright." "What is it now?" "Right now it's just a quarrel." "Arvid Fredin is an agitator, drinking and fighting." "He wants us all to become communists and shoot Nordenson." "See you." "Goodbye." "I am tired of your drinking and noise!" "They can't do that to you, Arvid!" "Tomorrow you will pack your bags and leave." "Their taking everything from us!" "You've been warned plenty of times." "You could have told me!" "We can't accept this!" "What did you say?" "Did you say something, Lagergren?" "Be extremely cautious, Lagergren, so you and your family won't have to leave." "Do you understand?" "Let's get back to work." "Back to work!" "Arvid was dismissed before the meeting." "I warned him." "It must have been the declaration he read." "It's not just Arvid." "They took him because he can read." "And not because he drinks and he's a bastard." "We must pull ourselves together." "What can we do?" "We have to meet." "We need the guys from the sawmill." "The question is where we can meet, the factory will throw us out." "You can use the chapel." "You'll be warm in the chapel." "It will hold 150 people." "In the chapel?" "What will the Rector say?" "I have the right to organize gatherings and meetings." "Shall we accept the minister's offer?" "Yes, we should." "What if you change your mind?" "No, I won't do that." "Shall we say Sunday, 4pm?" "That's fine." "Will you come?" "Of course, I'm the one with the key." "Isn't it good?" "One more spoonful..." "Anna, I'm sorry I came so early." "That's OK, I promised to change the bandage." "There, there!" "Please sit down!" "How is your hand?" "Better." "The doctor was impressed with your efforts." "What's your name?" "This is Petrus, my sister's son." "Her husband left her and she can't take care of him." "He lives with us now." "Will you be going to school here?" "When will you start?" "This fall." "Do you think it will be fun?" "I don't know." "I haven't gone yet" "Can you read and write?" "And the multiplication tables." "Aha, who taught you that?" "I taught myself." "No one helped you?" "No." "Do you have any friends?" "You must enjoy being alone." "I do." "What do you read?" "Do you have any books?" "We have a few Christmas magazines." "Mostly a reference book, but we only have one volume, J to K." "I think I have a few books Petrus might enjoy." "You should read this, and when you are finished, I have other books just as good." "We'll make a cover, just like in school, so it won't get dirty." "You should thank her properly." "Thanks." "I would like to speak to Reverend Bergman." "Immediately!" "Perhaps Mr. Nordenson could take a seat for a few minutes while I finish up?" "Please." "Three years?" "Smoking is not permitted here." "At this moment it is!" "Emma." "How old is Emma?" "Five." "Yes, we'll meet on Monday." "I'll send the papers." "Good Morning!" "Good Morning." "It is not you I'm looking for, but your assistant." "That should be easy enough?" "No, he appears occupied." "Come here, the clerk can take care of that." "The engineer would like to speak with you." "You can use my room." "I'll have my breakfast and you won't be disturbed in here." "I've never experienced such weather in February." "It's as though all Hell has broken loose." "They say the flu is related to the weather." "I don't know what to believe." "It is not weather, it is war, Reverend." "Millions of corpses are rotting, infections are spreading in the wind." "Yes..." "You wanted to speak with me?" "It was an impulse." "I was passing by and thought a little chat with young Mr. Bergman might be in order." "How is it going with the girls?" "Well, thank you." "I hear that you have done away with the catechisms." "Basically." "Is that allowed?" "There is no set rule for how the classes are run." "It only says that confirmands should be appropriately prepared for communion." "So, and now you are preparing my daughters." "You are aware that this is happening against my expressed will." "No, don't misunderstand me." "There was no big argument." "Susanna, Helena and their mother made the decision." "I am against that mess with the blood of Jesus." "Susanna was obstinate, while with Helena  who is so modest about feeling inferior, they convinced their mother." "She is a bit... how shall I put it romantic." "So everything was set." "What could a shabby heathen like me do to pit himself against three young girls?" "Nothing, Reverend." "Susanna and Helena are making great advances." "How in the world do they do that without studying?" "...that they can apply in their daily lives." "We have conversations." "Conversations?" "About how to live and what to do." "About conscience, death, the spiritual life." "The spiritual life?" "That which is not physical." "Really, does that exist?" "Yes." "My wife has begun to pray with her daughters." "Is that an expression of the spiritual?" "I think so." "When the girls have gone to bed, my wife goes to them, closes the door and they pray together, as you have taught them." "Those are the words of Augustine, not mine." "I don't care about that." "I care that I am excluded." "You could take part in the prayers." "How would that look, for God's sake?" "Nordenson on his knees with his ladies." "You could say:" ""I don't believe in this" "but I would like to join in because I love you."" "I can guarantee that the ladies would be quite disturbed in their devotions." "It's worth a try." "No." "Susanna and Helena would understand, as would their mother." "Their mother?" "You have spoken with my wife about me." "Your wife requested a private word with me." "So, Elin sought you out?" "She wasn't satisfied with the Rector, that old goat." "Those seeking spiritual advice do have a choice..." "What was the conversation about?" "May I ask..." "You may ask, but I cannot answer." "I forgot about the confidentiality agreement." "But I don't think I betray it if I say that your wife speaks of you with the greatest affection." "Really, with affection?" "Holy cow." "She speaks with you, about me, with the greatest affection..." "I'm sorry I mentioned it." "Don't worry." "A slip of the tongue, it is only human." "I hope your wife..." "Calm yourself, Reverend." "Of all the complications we've been dealt, this one is quite minor." "So, you know our secret?" "No." "You know that my wife has left me Twice." "No, I didn't know that." "Really?" "How is the turnout for the chapel meetings on Sundays?" "I understand you send your own reporters." "Has the Rector said anything?" "Yes, as a matter of fact." "May I be a bit curious?" "He was resolute." "If I allow socialist meetings in the chapel again he will inform the church authorities." "He also said that God's house should not be a sanctuary for anarchists and murderers." "So, he said that?" "Unfortunately the meeting was meaningless." "Arvid Fredin has already been fired." "I should have spoken, but I didn't." "It's probably best to keep your mouth shut... once in a while." "When things get serious I'm pretty cowardly." "Could it be that your wife disapproved of your hasty decision to loan out the chapel?" "That's pretty accurate." "There you have it..." "Would you consider a sort of cooperation?" "Cooperation with whom?" "With me." "Next time there are any problems you get up on the lectern, or whatever and speak to the masses." "What would I say?" "You could say, among other things, that it is not worth it to kill one another." "The workers at this factory are badly treated and humiliated." "So I should advise them to be humiliated?" "It's not that simple." "Really, how is it then?" "We should really end this conversation." "I've got plenty of time." "It hasn't been very rewarding." "I've been mostly anxious." "Really?" "Certain people scare me." "Did it ever occur to you that I am equally scared but in a different way?" "No." "Perhaps you are learning." "What remarkable weather!" "Thunder in February." "It's like the last judgment." "KNOCKING" "What is that sound?" "I don't hear anything." "You're imagining things." "KNOCKING" "Don't you hear that knocking?" "Who could it be?" "A ghost?" "Can't you hear it?" "KNOCKING" "Here's some nice warm milk." "Here you are." "What brings you here, Petrus?" "Your parents are coming to fetch you." "They aren't my parents." "They are your adopted parents." "But they are nice, Petrus." "You can't have it any better." "No." "So, are you coming?" "No one is angry with you." "why should anyone be angry?" "No, you're right..." "I don't want to go." "It's not for you to decide." "No." "Come on!" "Petrus... dear boy..." "Let him go!" "It can't be done this way." "I don't get it." "Petrus and I are such friends." "I think Petrus can stay here a while." "He needs time to quiet down." "He can certainly stay a few days." "Hey sis!" "Hey!" "Welcome!" "What's this, you've grown a beard?" "You look so cold." "Wait, take my scarf!" "It was 23 below this morning and it will be even colder this evening." "There, now you're better." "You are always great." "You are the world's greatest." "I've missed you terribly." "Everything is going so well and when you're happy, you're insatiable." "Welcome to my home!" "Thanks." "Isn't it nice?" "Yes, it is." "You'll stay in my study." "Now, I'll get you some coffee and Mia and Mejan's fresh-baked rolls but first you should go see Dag Erik." "Come and take a peek at your nephew!" "Well, he looks fine!" "He really gets going at night." "Wait a bit, seems like everything's fine right now." "OK, come along." "Henrik is the best Pappa." "He would change diapers if he could!" "Thanks." "How was it with Momma?" "She was in good spirits." "Will she be alone for Christmas?" "Lisen was there." "Why don't you invite her here?" "You know how it is with Henrik..." "Can't he forget anything?" "It's difficult for him to forget humiliation." "He was disappointed that I didn't give birth here rather than at the Academic Hospital in Uppsala." "When Mamma visited me, Henrik would leave." "And vice versa." "He got angry and said that I was betraying the women in the congregation." "I was very disappointed, but now everything is better again." "Mamma spoke kindly of Henrik and said you seemed fine." "She was glad that you were pleased." "In October he got a letter from his grandfather." "He asked for a reconciliation, and asked us to come visit." "I asked Henrik what we should do." "He answered calmly that he couldn't find a reason to reconcile with that man." "And you, what about you?" "Yes..." "I keep out of it." "After a while everything went back to normal and he is the nicest, the happiest again." "Anna..." "That must be him" "Has he arrived?" "Welcome, Ernst!" "Let me take a look at you!" "You look like a pirate." "Listen to you!" "Now I am happy." "Come here, Anna!" "I've got a present for you." "Henrik, can you hold Dag?" "It's in here!" "Go ahead." "What have you been up to?" "Open it!" "Wow, what is this?" "You're ridiculous!" "From Ernst to Anna!" "A gramophone." "Ernst..." "It's so beautiful!" "It's a one-step, the latest dance-style from New York." "One-step?" "Yes, absolutely the latest thing." "May I?" "No, I can't." "Oh yes you can." "Like this?" "Yes." "Henrik, come here!" "Come right now, Henrik!" "Henrik, come and dance!" "It's our turn!" "No." "But it's such fun!" "It's more fun for us to look on." "We'll all dance!" "You and me and Ernst and Dag..." "Come on!" "No, I'll just embarrass myself." "Embarrassed, how?" "Come, let's all three dance." "You, who were such the dancer at our wedding!" "That was the waltz." "Then we'll dance the waltz to the one-step." "Come on, let's take off your coat." "I think Henrik isn't the only one who doesn't like the one-step." "I'm the idiot." "I have a tendency to get jealous." "We just wanted to have some fun." "Then I'm the party-pooper." "I can't help it." "The poor Theology student, Henrik Bergman and the middle class girl, Anna Åkerblom meet in Uppsala in 1909 and fall in love with each other." "Henrik's mother, Alma, isn't pleased with her son's choice of a fiancée and Anna's mother, Karin, openly opposes the relationship." "After a few years she is pressed to give in and give them a grand wedding." "The newlyweds travel to Forsboda, in Norrland, where Henrik becomes an assistant minister." "They are given a friendly reception by Rector Gransjö and his housekeeper Magda." "They strive to develop a good relationship with the congregation but these are turbulent times." "The factory is going bankrupt, and the workers blame managing director Nordenson." "Nordenson's wife, Elin, chooses Henrik as her confessor and lets her daughters read for confirmation against her husband's wishes." "When Henrik allows the workers to use the chapel for meetings the animosity between Nordenson and him becomes a reality." "Anna's sheltered existence has turned to drudgery." "She misses her old life and feels lonely and isolated even though she has given birth to her son, Dag." "The orphan Petrus is also a member of the household." "When Anna's brother Ernst finally visits, accompanied with cheer and presents" " Henrik feels disconnected and appears unreasonably jealous." "Scrub here." "Hello!" "Hello!" "Pardon me, but I come on an important errand." "I'd like to speak with Henrik and you at once." "It's nothing unpleasant." "On the contrary." "Henrik is down at the river, fishing." "Petrus, run and tell him!" "Petrus is still living with you." "He isn't a problem?" "I don't know..." "He refuses to leave, and feels at home here." "He is kind and obedient." "Something must be done about it." "Yes, if only I knew how." "You seem to be doing fine." "I am, thank you." "And happy?" "Yes, why shouldn't I be?" "We have everything we could want and summer is around the corner." "After a particularly nasty winter." "Ugh, let's forget about that." "Good day, Rector." "Good day." "Where did you find that old sweater?" "I thought I had hidden it." "Why haven't you served anything?" "Thanks, I don't need anything." "I received a letter from my good friend Reverend Primarius from the Stockholm Cathedral congregation" "He is also the King's Chaplain in the General Assembly." "The letter is of such significance that I wanted to deliver it at once." "This is huge." "Exactly, Reverend." "And it concerns us?" "It seems appropriate that I read it out loud." ""As you are aware, The Sophia Home was started by Queen Sophia."" ""Her concerns about Swedish healthcare led to the establishment of a model hospital."" ""The Queen succeeded"..." "Here!" ""Her Majesty, Queen Viktoria, in consultation with the committee, has decided" "to establish a permanent part-time pastorate."" ""The responsibilities will be to guide the spiritual work inside the hospital."" ""In addition, the committee plans to build quarters for the minister" "with modern fittings."" "Here comes the main point!" ""At a meeting, Her Majesty stated her concerns for the projected pastorate" "and stressed how important it was to find the right man."" ""Our Archbishop spoke up at once:" "'I think I have your man! "'" ""After further inquiries the Archbishop mentioned a young minister" "by the name of Henrik Bergman."" "That's unbelievable!" "It can't be true..." "I don't know what to say." "You needn't say a thing." "You should think about it and talk it over with your wife." "When do we have to decide?" "As soon as possible." "You'll have to dress up in your finest, go to Stockholm and drink afternoon tea at the castle." "The letter has a postscript, penciled in." ""Her Majesty would like to receive" "both the minister and his young wife."" "Now, I'll leave you, my young friends in a situation which is more happiness than confusion." "At the same time I'll take the opportunity of being the first to congratulate you." "It isn't forbidden to say no?" "Not forbidden, but practically impossible." "An offer of such significance doesn't happen often." "Well, I must be going." "Thank you for your visit." "What should we say?" "Right now it feels like Paradise here." "Soon it will be 30 below." "And we'll forget we have each other." "No, we'll never forget that." "And we had thought of having another child." "I'm totally confused in this little head of mine." "Don't you think it would be fun to drink tea in the castle." "It would sure tell our friends in Trädgårdsgatan something." "How fun it would be to say:" ""tonight I think we'll go to the Royal Theater."" "Go to Beethoven's symphonies." "Or buy a silk blouse at Leja." "Yes, one certainly can fantasize." "Are you thinking of leaving?" "No, we're only talking, Petrus." "I thought you said so." "Then you weren't listening properly." "So you're not leaving?" "Don't say such silly things!" "It seemed like you were thinking of leaving." "Mrs. Bergman, welcome." "Reverend Bergman, welcome." "I would like to explain a few things." "Her Majesty is referred to as "Your Majesty" if it is necessary to speak of her indirectly." "Her Majesty poses questions and guides the conversation." "The meeting will be brief, Her Majesty is unwell and quite tired." "Please!" "I recommended that the meeting be postponed until a more convenient time but Her Majesty is deeply committed to The Sophia Home." "Any questions?" "We'll sit here." "You will stand up when Her Majesty arrives." "Her majesty will enter from there and will be followed by the court cleric." "Her Majesty will greet you first and you will curtsy." "Her Majesty will greet you, Reverend Bergman." "Questions?" "No questions." "Good day, how nice it is that we could meet." "How friendly of you to come such a long way." "Shall we take our seats?" "I hope you will enjoy your tea." "And the trip went well?" "Very well, thank you." "Trains make it so easy." "And how is your son, Dag?" "Thank you, he is well." "Everything happens so quickly at his age..." "We are entertaining high hopes." "My wife and I are taken aback, everything is happening so fast." "We don't know what is expected of us, but we will do our best." "Where is that folder?" "Here is a sketch of the proposed residence." "So beautiful!" "Mrs." "Bergman, you went to school there." "On the lower floor - three rooms and a kitchen." "On the upper floor - four rooms." "We thought the corner room would be for the children." "Naturally, all the conveniences." "This is overwhelming." "I expect that it will be difficult to leave "your" Forsboda." "Yes, it will be difficult." "At first we were worried and uncertain." "We felt that we were running from our responsibilities." "Our commitments." "I wasn't as anxious as Henrik." "I felt I was abandoning people in need." "In a hospital need can be just as great, Reverend." "I know..." "I know." "Tell me one thing..." "Reverend..." "Reverend, do you believe that our sufferings are sent by God?" "I can only answer for myself." "No, I don't believe that our sufferings are sent by God." "I believe that God looks upon his creations with care." "But that the suffering should purify us?" "I have never seen suffering help, however, I have seen it destroy." "Countess, please give me my scarf?" "If it is as you say..." "How is it possible to give solace?" "Solace is incidental." "Incidental?" "The only possibility is that one forgives oneself." "Shouldn't we ask God's forgiveness?" "That is the same thing." "Once one has forgiven oneself, so has God." "Is God so near?" "God and mankind are indivisible." "Mixed together." "It is cruel to separate God from humanity." "God as supreme, as punitive body, as dogmatist." "That is contrary to everything Jesus taught us." "I am terribly tired today." "Please excuse me, my friends." "I thank you for being frank." "Make sure the Reverend makes it to his new rectory." "I think you will both have a rich field of activities." "I must excuse myself." "Reverend Primarius, please assist the guests?" "Congratulations on your impromptu sermon." "It made an impression on Her Highness." "These are new times, very harsh and healthy." "God cares for his creations..." "Yes, why not?" "Bold personal interpretations have become fashionable." "In my youth, had I..." "Here I am fooling about!" "Goodbye, Mrs. Bergman." "Goodbye, Reverend Bergman, congratulations and good luck." "No, no, no!" "What is it, Henrik?" "What are you saying no to?" "I'm saying no!" "I won't move here." "I have been an idiot!" "Now I see perfectly, thank God for Primarius and the distinguished Lady." ""Does suffering come from God?" The freedom of the free, the triumph of nonsense!" "Did you hear me ramble on?" "I must have lost my mind!" "Stop, Henrik!" "There must be an end to such stupidity." "We're going home to Forsboda." "I say no!" "I said stop!" "If you could hear yourself..." ""l, I, I..." Such bullshit!" ""I say no." There are, in fact, two of us." "Maybe you have forgotten." "My name is Anna and I am your wife." "I am one of us, and I have the right to say what I think." "You're behaving like a hysterical primadonna." "What is it you have decided?" "How dare you decide yourself something so important for us?" "Important for us!" "Now I'm crying because you are trampling all over me." "You're trampling all over your most faithful friend." "I'm crying because I'm furious." "Sorry..." "What should we do?" "What do you want?" "I don't know any more." "Can't we take life a bit easy?" "We aren't the type." "You aren't the type." "One of us has to give in, and it'll be me." "I don't know why I'm arguing?" "You feel the call to live and die in the wilderness among heathens and cannibals." "I thought that life would be bright and shiny." "Grand emotions, grand sacrifices, not being buried alive..." "I remember how we fantasized..." "The nurse and the minister, and suffering humanity." "Our dreams have come true." "No, Henrik." "We didn't dream about Forsboda." "Is it really that bad?" "No, not until a few weeks ago, because we had no choice." "I thought it would be so fantastically wonderful." "Maybe that's a bit childish." "The parents will sit over there and you confirmands here." "We'll start with a psalm... number 643." "Some bluebells?" "Then I'll give a sermon, and then the cross-examination." "Are you nervous?" "You shouldn't be." "I suggest we go through the introduction once more." "PSALM In the sweet summertime" "Go out, my soul, and be glad" "Great God's gifts" "Look, how in adornment.." "Welcome!" "I came to fetch my daughters." "That was very thoughtful, but they'll be busy for another hour." "We'll go through the questions and answers." "I understand that it may complicate things, but my daughters cannot continue." "My wife or I could bring the girls down." "There is no need for you to wait." "I came to fetch my daughters, Susanna and Helena." "I understand." "Unfortunately, It is not possible." "Susanna and Helena are occupied." "Really?" "They are occupied?" "Susanna and Helena are occupied?" "You can fetch them in an hour." "Susanna, come here." "Helena, come here." "Come now, my girls." "I can't wait." "I suggest we step outside, there must be some misunderstanding." "There is no misunderstanding at all." "Regardless of time or place they must obey their father." "And if they don't obey?" "Don't drag out this little" "I ask you politely to encourage my daughters to follow their father." "What happens if I ask you to leave the church?" "Then it will come to blows." "Blows... against who?" "Against whoever." "You are intoxicated." "You are also intoxicated, Reverend Bergman." "In a more dangerous way." "You are intoxicated with your power over my daughters." "You are consciously humiliating me in front of the children." "Susanna and Helena, go to your father." "Your order came exactly 30 seconds too late, Reverend Bergman." "15 seconds ago I decided to prevent their further participation." "You can't do that." "What can't I do?" "Can't I stop my daughters from being victims of an emotional rape?" "A repulsive mimicry, a foul orgy of blood and tears?" "What is it I cannot do?" "You are a vile man, vindictive..." "..." "Jealous and loathsome." "Stop it now, Henrik!" "Interesting to hear a minister belittle a father with his children as witnesses." "A lieutenant goes riding, gallop, gallop..." "Then a gentleman goes riding, hop-hop, hop-hop..." "And then comes the old farmer, humpty-dumpty, humpty-dumpty and they all fall down!" "Your grandmother needs to take a pill." "Do you like sleeping in your parents big bed when your grandmother comes to visit?" "I just love living in your fine room." "Your grandmother just needs to stand up a bit." "There's nothing wrong, Dag." "Your fat grandmother is really clumsy." "I think you should get your mother and father." "Run to the kitchen and get your mother and father to put me in bed." "Momma!" "Grandmother is sick." "What did you say, darling?" "Grandmother is sick." "Grandmother is sick?" "Yes." "Stay here." "What is wrong?" "Go get the doctor, Henrik." "Come now!" "..." "Do you think the boy was afraid?" "No." "He's in the kitchen drinking hot chocolate with Petrus and Mejan." "I was clumsy and lost my grip." "Do you think Henrik will get back in time?" "He'll be back soon." "Will you leave Henrik?" "No." "I have such a strange feeling." "We have had our difficulties, but it is ok now." "I don't know why I get so upset." "We're doing fine." "Henrik is so..." "Lonely?" "Inhibited." "I don't know." "No, I don't know." "I'll never leave him, I promise." "Would you like something to drink, some tea?" "Yes, please." "My mouth is so dry from the pills." "Is grandmother sleeping?" "Yes, grandmother is sleeping." "Do you need to pee?" "No, I already peed." "Look at your socks..." "We'll get you new ones." "Where would you like your kiss?" "Is grandmother going to die now?" "No, she won't die now." "The doctor wasn't in." "His nurse, Blenda, promised to see to her." "She's sleeping now." "I went up with the tea tray." "I sat by her side and she was quite lucid." "I'll go up to her." "No, change into dry clothes." "She must have died peacefully." "Yes, but alone." "She was always alone." "What's up?" "There was no wood this morning." "But it's in the woodshed." "It was the herring you ate yesterday." "No." "The sausage from your sandwich last night?" "What if I'm pregnant?" "We've been..." "... so careful?" "You said you wanted a child." "I was just talking." "Don't you want to go inside and lie down?" "No, I want to sit here with you." "I am so unhappy, Henrik." "Why are you unhappy?" "Why does it have to be so unpleasantly cold and dark?" "We chose this life." "So quiet and lonely." "Can't we go somewhere?" "Just a few weeks?" "One week?" "I can't take off now, while the Rector has the flu." "I miss my mother." "That seems silly." "I miss my mother, Trädgårdsgatan and Ernst." "I miss my brother." "I'm sorry, darling." "Do you want another child?" "Answer honestly, please?" "I want ten, you know that." "I don't really want to be pregnant." "I'll be very good." "You'll be just as you always are..." "Why take that tone with me?" "You're so childish, Henrik." "I want a grown-up and mature man." "So you can be little and childish." "Well, now I feel better." "Let me take that!" "..."and come there before they could know" " Lucien decided to do everything possible to remain in high society."" "There is something I have been pondering." "I would like to know why we have become so few." "Could anyone explain why we have become so few and why no one comes to the church and the sewing club?" "Can anyone give an explanation?" "Then I will ask directly..." "What do you think Mrs. Tallrot?" "I think everybody's afraid." "Afraid?" "That's what I think." "I don't belong to the regular churchgoers, but..." "One can't help but notice things." "I don't understand why anybody should be afraid." "There's a list in the office of everyone in the sewing club." "Why would Nordenson need that?" "It's not difficult to figure out." "Well, if it is true." "I don't understand..." "The manager asked my husband, Adolf, if his old lady was still going to the old lady minister's old lady Thursdays." "That's unbelievable." "Everyone remembers when Nordenson came to the confirmation lessons in the chapel." "Helena has said that her father will never forgive the humiliation in front of the confirmands..." "Why has no one said anything?" "Magna, have you known about this and not said anything to us?" "You have seen how Thursdays..." "Yes, I have." "I think there's a better explanation." "What do you mean?" "We'll talk about that another time." "Why not now?" "Don't mind me." "I'm already as furious as can be." "Magna, you call yourself our friend." "I ask you now - tell us what you know!" "The rumor went around that Henrik and Anna went to visit Queen Viktoria and that Henrik was to become her chaplain." "Well, everybody started talking and a few got fed up." "A few thought that Henrik was insincere and wouldn't say that he was thinking of leaving us." "But Magna, we did say no." "Henrik was to be a minister at a big hospital where the Queen was the chairwoman." "We were tempted, is that so hard to understand?" "Henrik said no." "I wasn't so sure, but Henrik said no." "Oh?" "Now you know everything." "One could disagree on that point." "Nothing has changed." "We are staying here, that's what we decided!" "As some sort of a sacrifice?" "We want to be here." "That's very nice of you..." "I don't understand why you are angry." "I'm not angry." "I'm disappointed." "I don't follow you." "No, that's obvious... lf I were the minister I would have taken the offer and gone." "We thought we were needed." "Sorry...?" "Needed for what?" "What could a charming young minister and his wife accomplish out here in this wretched place?" "Mrs." "Kronström, why come every Thursday..." "I liked you." "I liked to listen to his readings." "I wanted to sit with the ladies, and thought it was quite pleasant." "Goodbye." "Goodbye." "Goodbye, thanks for everything." "Thank you for the valuable explanation." "Goodbye." "Goodbye." "KNOCKING Yes?" "Pardon my intrusion, but I need to say something important." "Shouldn't we take a seat?" "No, I'll be leaving straight away..." "Why did it have to be like this tonight?" "I'm ashamed that I was afraid to say what I thought." "I thought that what is happening is exactly like the story about my blouse." "One day this spring I put on a pretty blouse." "The weather was fine and I thought the children should see that their teacher was well-dressed." "That they should see something pretty." "I was giving the children lessons, nothing strange about that." "Then the talking started..." "It was almost as though I had done something immoral." "Not that anyone came and told me directly..." "This evening was just like that blouse." "Such hatred?" "Such resentment?" "It's even more difficult out here in this darkness." "You shouldn't have to bear all this nastiness and darkness." "You must be exhausted with all this rudeness, and here I am..." "Sorry..." "No, don't say anything." "I appreciate that you have listened so patiently." "Good night and excuse me." "That's it, Anna..." "I am certain now." "Now I know how important it is that we don't let these folks down." "Are you coming?" "Soon." "Is there something?" "No, why do you ask?" "It's disturbing, the way you stomp around." "Oh really..." "I'm going to bed." "I'll be right there." "Henrik, we have to send Petrus away." "The sooner the better." "Please, let's talk about it tomorrow." "No, now!" "Why the hurry?" "I never agreed that he could live here forever." "Or that I would adopt him." "You need to talk to Mrs. Johansson." "Of course." "I can't be responsible for another child." "Don't be so angry." "I'm not angry!" "I have tried to like him, but I don't." "I'll speak with Mrs. Johansson." "Tomorrow!" "We're having another child." "When Petrus looks at me I get so angry." "It doesn't help when I tell myself that I shouldn't have such an aversion to a child." "I have to get up at six..." "Do you understand what I am saying?" "Yes, I understand." "Then we'll sleep well." "Good night." "Good night, angry one." "Good night." "Today, we stop heating the big room." "We'll have to keep warm in the kitchen and the bedroom." "I wonder if Dag has a fever?" "Let's make sure he gets enough to drink." "How is your cold?" "I'm afraid it might be consumption." "It's not consumption." "You're the nurse, and you know." "Where are you going?" "To the post office," "Are you going out in the cold, with your cold?" "I'll take the sled." "OK, then..." "I'll make the beds." "We eat in an hour." "Will you be back?" "I should be." "Petrus, read to Dag while I make the beds." "Close the door, you're letting out the heat." "I can't write my sermon knowing that we are sending Petrus away." "Do whatever you want." "But we are deciding together?" "Then we decide that you do what you want - the sermon is important." "Petrus is a fellow human being." "What is it?" "Nothing." "Don't be so unfriendly." "I am also a fellow human being." "Anna..." "Go and write your sermon." "We'll leave it for now." "Isn't that better?" "Mamma!" "Mamma!" "No..." "Dag..." "Petrus!" "Petrus!" "Petrus, stop!" "Stop, Petrus!" "Mamma!" "Stop!" "Petrus!" "Stop, Petrus!" "Mamma!" "Mamma!" "Stop!" "Stop, Petrus!" "Mamma!" "Petrus, stop!" "Stop, Petrus!" "Stop!" "Mamma!" "Mamma!" "Hello, Mrs. Johansson." "I'm sorry about the mess, but the girls are sick." "It's the same everywhere." "I think all Petrus' things are here." "I've packed some books." "The minister told me everything." "I hope you understand, Mrs. Johansson..." "Of course." "Goodbye, Petrus." "We should get going." "Thanks for being patient and taking care of him." "It's too bad it ended this way." "You couldn't have taken care of him forever." "It's all for the best." "There was no way he could stay." "I think he understood." "He didn't even cry." "Why don't you respond?" "Anna, it can't go on this way." "You have no grounds to carry on like this." "It's as though everything was my fault." "Stop with the dishes!" "Turn around!" "Talk to me!" "You've cut yourself with the plate." "I don't give a damn." "Let's go." "The girls don't need to hear this." "You need to talk with me." "It's no use." "Anything is better than silence." "That's what you say." "I am responsible for Dag and the new baby." "My responsibility tells me that I need to leave." "My responsibility is more important than my loyalty to you." "I don't understand." "I'm taking Dag and leaving." "You stay, it's your stubbornness." "Where are you thinking of going?" "Home." "Your home is here." "You can't treat me this way." "I have written to Mamma." "What a triumph for her!" "So, that's your first reaction?" "I forbid you to leave." "You forbid nothing, Henrik." "How long will you be gone?" "When you have gotten hold of your senses, we'll talk about the future." "What future?" "The Rector spoke with me." "He told me that the offer in Stockholm is still open." "Have you gone behind my back?" "Yes, you could say that." "I don't think I'll ever forgive you for that." "No, at least we know that." "I'll finish the dishes now." "Go!" "I never want to see you anymore!" "Ow!" "You're being an idiot." "I knew this would happen, that you would leave me." "...and stuck his fingers in his ears and spat and wiggled his tongue looked up to heaven, sighed and said: "Ephphatha! "" "Ephphatha, Jesus my savior!" "Then he opened his ears." "His tongue moved freely and he spoke plain and clear." "Jesus forbade them to mention what they had seen but the more he forbade them, the more they heralded it." "Let us praise Jesus Christ for the miracles he gives us every day and every hour." "God's grace be with all!" "Especially those who who have come in from the dark." "You, who are slave to your deeds." "You, who feel rejected." "You, who have dirt in your mouth and the serpent's venom in your heart." "Grace be with you." "May you already, this night, see a great light!" "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit..." "Amen." "Amen!" "Hallelujah." "Praise be the Lord." "PSALM" "Sleep well, my child." "Goodnight, grandmother." "I have longed for this so terribly." "Now, at least you are here." "I got so tired." "Everyone was sick, and I became scared." "When do you expect the child?" "The country doctor said in July." "You should go see Dr. Fürstenberg." "He expects you on Monday." "Mamma..." "I feel so confused I just want to cry." "You've been travelling all day." "Let's sit on the sofa?" "Like old times..." "Please sit down." "Anna went to Uppsala." "That's right." "With your son?" "Anna's mother wanted to see her grandson." "Will she be back for Christmas?" "I don't know." "Henrik, do you have any idea when Anna will come home?" "No." "What happened?" "I'm not prepared to give confession." "May I leave now?" "Naturally." "I don't want to seem unfriendly, I appreciate your concern." "The situation is badly timed, discussing my problems, while the whole factory" "The factory's catastrophe is already a fact, but your catastrophe can be avoided." "Was that all?" "I want to remind you that the offer in Stockholm is still open." "That's over and done with." "I know where I belong." "And your wife?" "She has also made her choice." "Go now, Reverend, and make yourself useful." "Leaving already?" "Yes, I need to go to the factory." "How are you?" "Fine, excellent." "When will Anna return?" "I have no idea." "We want our pay!" "You can't simply close now!" "Open the factory!" "We want our pay!" "We need our jobs!" "It's useless to stand here." "A representative from the national unemployment commission is on his way." "There's talk of starting up again after the New Year." "The factory has orders on hand and the creditors are in Gävle." "They are planning on continuing." "I ask you to return to your homes." "Everyone should return home and wait for an update." "No!" "No!" "No!" "We have no food for our families!" "We haven't been paid for three weeks!" "We want work - not promises!" "I don't know." "He had his difficulties and he hadn't said much lately." "He didn't want to make me worry." "I don't know anything at all." "Here is his suicide note." "Would you like to hear what he wrote, Reverend?" ""For the past few years, almost every evening, I've gone to my study" "locked the door and stuck the barrel of my rifle in my mouth."" ""I wouldn't say I was particularly desperate."" ""I just wanted to be prepared for the unavoidable."" ""It will be a great relief to enter the final solitude."" ""I have no reason to ask forgiveness for my death" "even if it causes practical and hygienic burdens."" ""Neither can I find the reason to ask for forgiveness for my life."" ""I was, as you know, accused of all sorts of mischief."" ""Once in a while I profited, it was amusing, but trivial."" ""Life, itself, was one of these banal little games."" ""I am now appropriately intoxicated, therefore I will put the period here.."" "Would you like to read a prayer?" "I don't think so." "I don't think your husband would appreciate me reading a prayer at this moment." "Have you spoken to your daughters?" "Yes, they are staying with their grandmother for Christmas." "Is there anything I could do?" "No..." "No, thanks." "I appreciate it that you took the time." "Isn't it dreadful?" "I'm going mad!" "Are there any good little children here?" "Or only ugly hags and runaway wives?" "Well, well, I should be serious." "Are there any good boys here?" "Yes, there's one." "Aha, so there is..." "Now, I deserve a shot." "My Goodness, how the ladies have gotten themselves dressed!" "I don't believe my eyes." "It really is Christmas." "Well, this is ridiculous." "We do have our traditions, Carl." "Let's all sit at the table." "Dag, you'll sit with your grandmother." "In Jesus' name we take our seat, and bless the Lord for the food we eat." "Amen." "Bon Appétit!" "Thanks." "Well, I don't see any crisis or starvation." "SONG A circle of children dance around," "The tree, so green and sparkling in the room" "Thank you, Mamma, for a lovely Christmas Eve." "Please, I think it was dreadful." "Dag enjoyed it, in any case." "I did too, Mamma." "Thanks Carl, my sweet." "That was very kind." "I'm not particularly sentimental, but I felt like crying." "Then I said to myself: "Don't be silly, what are you whining about?"" "One must be brave." "I got a letter from Henrik this morning." "I don't want to ask." "He wrote that all is well." "That's good to hear." "He sends his greetings." "Say hello, when you write back." "I warned him, strongly, about the Åkerbloms." "He preaches in the big church now, they closed the chapel." "Then he really is doing well." "It seems so." "He sent Mia and Mejan away last weekend." "How does he manage his meals?" "The Rector often invites him over for dinner." "I'm glad he is doing well." "Anna..." "The perfect time for this empty shell to go to the hotel." "Thanks for a fine evening, dear Mamma." "Thank you, Miss Lisen." "Thank you, Anna, you cry-baby." "Not much is going right for you." "There you go, a big wet kiss." "Cry, my dear." "Women cry to make their eyes even prettier." "Yes, yes, I'm leaving now." "I'm taking the train to Stockholm tomorrow morning." "No, I can manage, stay where you are, I'm not particularly drunk." "Say hi to my brothers, and wish them a happy new year." "No, don't say hi to my brothers." "My capacity for dishonesty does have a limit." "Tonight it was reached and surpassed." "I won't get a new ration until the New Year." "Goodnight, Carl." "Goodnight, Carl." "I'm going to bed." "Goodnight, Miss Lisen." "I'm so afraid for Henrik, I have such a bad conscience." "KNOCKING Come in!" "Hello, Henrik." "Keep it up this weekend." "I brought some sweets for you." "Gransjö says you are welcome to celebrate the New Year with us." "There won't be many of us." "Should we just stand here?" "Perhaps you could offer me something warm?" "Please, come in and sit down." "My toes are frozen stiff." "Aha, you've moved into the kitchen." "I see that you are working on your sermon..." "I know I'm a bother, but I'll just catch my breath." "How are you?" "Fine, excellent." "You seem so angry, Henrik." "I said I'm doing fine!" "It was just a polite question." "You come running with your pity." "I can't live up to your expectations." "I'll tell you one thing." "I am the lonesome sort." "It has always been like this." "My time with Anna and my son just confused me." "It was as though a particular happiness was reserved for me that waited around a corner all these years." "It was Anna who got me to believe in it." "Anna and Dag." "Do you understand?" "I've talked it over with Gransjö." "We thought you should move in with us." "Wait a second, let me finish speaking." "You'll have a living room and a kitchen, or you could eat with us." "I think the church council would be pleased." "Then you can close the chapel with a clear conscience." "Magda, it is nice of you to think of me." "It is best for me to live on the outskirts." "Then I sense the harshness, the clarity..." "I can only find banalities for something so important." "I have to discover myself and live in privation." "Only then can I be a good minister." "I wasn't created for any greater role." "This life is enough for me." "Do you understand?" "That seems very exaggerated." "I will leave." "Come, Dag, we're going out." "What lovely weather." "Can we get some ice cream?" "We can all go out to the summer house." "Dag needs to visit the countryside." "Mamma, may I go with grandmother and pick flowers?" "What do you want?" "It's just an impulse." "There was an overnight train." "What do you want?" "I just want to say..." "I think about you two very often." "I won't go back." "I know." "No matter what you say..." "I know." "I've had such anxiety and felt like a traitor." "It's better now, but you can't just take that away from me again." "I couldn't stand it." "You will never have to go back, I promise." "I wrote to Reverend Primarius and accepted the position." "We move to Stockholm this fall." "Maybe we'll never be able to leave each other." "So, you don't want to stay together?" "You know that I do." "I want nothing else." "It's the only thing I want."