"Dedicated to Hans Dieter Müller" ""Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth:" "yet they have not prevailed against me. " Psalm 129, 2" "Miscellaneous News." "A film by..." "It's said that if a child squints when the clock strikes 12, his eyes will remain fixed forever." "The child did his best." "His eyes do not remain fixed forever." "Christmas Eve, 1954." "4 murders, 2 cases of manslaughter and one death in self-defense." "Good evening." "I' m Sabina T rooger and here is tonight's program." "Miscellaneous News..." "Miscellaneous News" "... Each of you in your own position have rendered outstanding services to the Bundeswehr." "The 30th anniversary of the Bundeswehr." "I can't tell you, you'd have to ask him." "All I can say is, that one and this one belong to the same decoration family." "The Order of the FRG." "An order of the Spanish Navy, the white one." "The Victoria Cross from Britain." "They all have a name." " Please go on." "This one's from Luxembourg, the "Adolf von Nassau."" "Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland." "This is the "Commendatore della Repubblica Italiana."" "They've all got their own name." "I think all these decorations are Portuguese but the last one, which is Brazilian." "The four first..." "The two first are for Distinguished Service, in the field." "The other two are for Distinguished Service, but in peace time." "He reached the age of 50." "U.S. President Roosevelt had blue eyes." "The French ambassador and his attachés building an air raid shelter near the Berlin embassy." "A symbolic threat." "When French planes destroy Berlin, the ambassador will be back in France." "A girl and her father in a car." "She brakes. "That's wonderful, Papa, there's Gert." "Now you can meet him. " And so, Papa meets Gert." "But something about the good-looking young man makes the experienced parent suspicious." ""Who 's this?" he asks an officer at the Reich 's Fraud Information Center, and shows him a picture belonging to his daughter." "This photo was giving by private teacher" "Gert von Something to his bride-to-be." "This photo was found by the officer in the criminal archives." ""It's a good thing you came." "The man 's an impostor." "We'll stay on the case. "" "The wanted poster and the lies he told the girl, who still believes in him," "lead to a bitter end:" "He's arrested by her side." "The summer of 1939." "The spring of 1939 : the Olympics Games are over." "We're bursting with energy." "Miscellaneous News." "Countess Bissingen and the daughter of the Hungarian envoy." "Colonel von Farkacs and Princess Louise von Saxony-Meiningen are organizing the private concert." "Colonel-General von Seeckt and lady of the house Marta Linz von Kriegner." "Dr. Alfredo Stendardo and Constanca, née Savignano." "An Italian-style wedding in Berlin." "The world is in danger." "Gdansk and the corridor are at stake." "Gamelin, French commander-in-chief, on his way to London for alliance talks." "The song hits of the spring of 1939 :" ""This is unique, it'll never happen again. "" ""There's a stork's nest on the world's rooftop. "" ""In a hundred years there'll be a spring like this. "" "She goes to town to have an abortion." "After the slave trade was abolished 1 00 years ago, and in the 1950s the last African colonies were granted independence, the pimps of Marseille and Paris started bringing more West African women to Europe." "They work at dumping prices and are kept like slaves by men whom the tribal elders back home called trustworthy." "The passports are the problem." "One can get an E.C. passport through marriage." "Here's the story of" ""Max the waiter."" "I'm Max the waiter." "I have a clear picture of my future." "I've got a lucky eye for women and, what's more, I own a passport." "These are my assets as of December 31 st of this year." "It is a momentous and solemn occasion that brings you here today." "You want to be married and start out on the path through life together." "You want to give each other, and be for each other, a purpose in life." "Always remember that respect and trust, but also friendship, are the best means to help each other in coping with life's difficulties." "Never forget that none of us is without fault." "Always believe in your partner's good qualities." "Should you succeed in respecting each other's values, and conquering each other's weaknesses and needs, then you will have become true partners in marriage." "What happens now?" " He will ask you to answer with Yes or No." "That leaves me to say that the legal requirements for this marriage have all been fulfilled, and to ask you and your witnesses to please rise." "Mr. Schmitt, do you wish to take Miss Fasassi in marriage?" " I do." "And, Miss Fasassi, I would like to pose the same question to you:" "do you wish to take Mr. Schmitt in marriage of your own free will?" "I do." "Since it is the declared will of you both to enter into this marriage, you are now joined in matrimony and, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife." "Thank you." "TO THE marriage HALLS... 5,000 marks for a marriage." "It'll go into the money box." "It is not really the idea that the married couple ever meet again." "Max is careless." "He wants to see the woman one more time." "Hello." "If there's to be no wedding night, at least let's have a wedding breakfast." "Waitress!" " Coming." "May I offer you a "Chocolate Kiss?"" "Your wedding present." "Woolen gloves." "And a negligée." "Since you're my wife, I could kiss you any time I want." "I'm your husband." "So we'll never meet again?" "When I was six we went to the zoo one day, my mother, my father and 8 brothers and sisters." "I was in awe." "My father kept saying," ""Max, keep moving!"..." "My mother said, "Max, leave the boy." "Stop going... at him!" "Let him enjoy the birds... and the bears..."" "Me, Max, I saw the bear, the birds and my father going... and thought" ""Enough!" "I want to be myself!" Mother was very supportive, so I said, "No!"" "He thinks, "She's a chieftain's daughter. "" "He takes some money from the box." "He wants to see his wife again." "The 4th hour of the night." "The woman can feel her circulation collapsing." "Only yesterday her children had called her a very youthful person." "Now, at 4 in the morning, she can't believe she'll make it till 7." "For you." "Can you hear me?" "Hello!" "Relax." "The pulse is weak." "Pupils?" "Slow to react." "Can't measure her blood pressure." "To the intensive care unit." "Hurry!" "Sunrise." "It's her last day." "She was always a successful person." "She's made it to this stage of her life." "It's 7 in the morning." "The son defends the mother" "They are deadly enemies." "This man is violent." "She cannot allow herself to be humiliated in public." "Addi!" "The son rarely sees his mother." "A bereavement at the wrong time..." "White won't do!" " It's all I had." "And I'm wearing the armband." "That's not an armband, it's just..." " Where am to I get an armband?" "Just put on something black." " Claudia, come over here." "Come here." " This maybe?" " No." "Claudia, take your clothes off." "This would do." " No, you can wear something like that, but I can't." "Here are black tights." " I can't handle this, I know it!" "We won't..." "They're far too big!" "Claudia, come on." "Hurry, I need black tights." "Ones that fit me!" "Black tights that fit!" "I can't cope, it's all too late." "Yeah, yeah.." "Maybe it will work out." " Hurry up." " Alright!" "I have to put my tights on!" "Still." "We'll manage." " You're driving me mad." "His whole family always drove me mad." "I know why I never wanted to go there." "It's already 12 and we're not ready." "Give me a hand..." " In a minute." "I'll have to undress, too." "It's all too late anyway." "Definitely too late." "Change everything back." "No, this just won't do." "It won't do." "What are you doing?" " It won't do!" "The other tights." "Please, you can..." " Claudia, the slip!" "I'm wearing my white dress." "You can't go to the funeral in a white dress." " I'm not going to the funeral." "What?" "Why not?" " It's very sad, but there's only one flight and I must catch it." "You wouldn't mind my not coming." "You for one wouldn't!" " Well..." "It's not about you lot." "You lot wouldn't mind my not going." "That's for certain." "You never minded when I wasn't there." "Where's that slip?" "They're all black, you can't tell them apart." " No, the skin-colored one!" "You would've looked pretty in the white dress and the black belt..." "And your gold ear clips too, right?" "I need the white skirt!" "Where is it?" "Claudia, take the wreath." "You're paying for it!" " I already have." "You'll never catch that plane." " Of course I will." "Listen, you will represent me?" "You will, okay?" " They will hardly..." "Claudia, the flowers!" " You've dropped them!" "What a shame." "Please, represent me, please do!" " A shame..." "Yes." "It's a tragedy, but there's only the one flight." "Claudia, the flowers!" "Please, represent me." "All of you, okay?" " She really is leaving!" "Yes, of course!" "It's the only flight there is." "Happy are those" "Who can forget" "What cannot be changed..." "Happy are those who can forget" "What cannot be changed..." "Getting ready for the funeral party." "This is more like New Year's Eve than a funeral reception." "Right, excuse me." "Though the years slip by with haste" "The memories remain" "Sweet dreams never misplaced" "Over your heart will reign" "Even though all things seem to part" "That today you thought fine" "Remember all fairy tales start" "With "Once upon a time".." "All year long that was her favorite song." "But on New Year's Eve she preferred the other one..." "Nina Petrovna's lie" "Czarist Russia." "A woman caught between two men." "She belongs to the one and loves the other." "She died because of it." "She has to lie constantly." "Her husband thinks it charming." "A charming lie!" "But she declares her true devotion to the young lover." "She leaves the villa and her husband and moves into poor quarters." "The lover, who wants to spoil the young woman, tries cheating at cards." "The husband catches him at it." "Now the old man controls the young lover." "He can blackmail him, or shoot him." "The woman has to save him: return to the marriage and leave her lover." "For I love him..." "But it requires another lie." "As long as he knows you love him, he won't be able to give you up." "That will be his undoing." "The lover buys her a pair of shoes." "Cheap shoes for 7 rubles 50." "Here's a surprise..." "She really likes the gift, but in her role of savior, she has to refuse the shoes." "It's nice of you to buy me some shoes," "but do you really think" "I'd ever wear such common ones?" "Especially now that I'm selling what I freely gave to you." "Will you keep your word?" "She enters the old man's home as a doomed woman." "Tomorrow morning" "I shall move back into your villa." "The poison..." "She's wearing the shoes." "In a world of kitsch and strong emotions Lenin, the Planner, dies." "Funeral ceremony in Red Square." "The Mausoleum, illuminated by night." "The Red Army trains for chemical warfare, that will not take place the way they had trained for it." "We will now show you a film about the visit of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt to Erich Honecker in Werbellinsee." "A film by Volker Schlöndorff." "Director of photography:" "Franz Rath." "Shortly before Christmas 1981 :" "a time of geopolitical tensions." "It is clear that the old-style "Ostpolitik" is coming to an end." "It is sad and highly dangerous." "We will show you this day in all the tenacity television never shows." "We had made two earlier, fruitless attempts." "We had actually agreed two years ago for me to make a visit here." "But a critical world situation prevented it:" "the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan." "Last summer we prepared for this visit a second time." "But that time our concerns over the developments in Poland prevented it." "So this is our third attempt and thank God it has worked out this time." "One of the pushiest journalists, and of the best." " That's the main thing." "It's quality that counts!" "I see you've managed to get the Secretary General off the red carpet." "And the Chancellor with him, that's the main thing!" "Welcome to the German Democratic Republic!" "Werbellinsee, Mark Brandenburg." "Fontane wrote:" ""This place is like a fairy tale, this place is the bank of Werbellin." "Magic is all around. "" "What strikes me is that it gets dark here earlier than with us." "The place is a bit further north, of course." "And further east, too." "But it's not colder here?" " No." "During the night martial law was declared in Poland." "Dawn." "The Chancellor holds a press conference on GDR soil." "The Chancellor has a cold, has hardly slept and is angry at the news." "The case's here on the left." " Y es." "Ladies and Gentlemen, if I..." "If the photographers would be so kind as to allow me to see the people I'm addressing?" "Thank you." "If I were to  summarize the intensive and, indeed, frank talks" "I've been having with the Secretary General of the SED and Head of State of the GDR Mr. Honecker, then I would say..." "To summarize, I can say that the talks, generally speaking, have not only brought an extra bit of predictability, mutual" "and reliable predictability, to us, the political leaders of both German states, but they have also created a certain sense of trust." "This morning we have talked about the latest developments in the People's Republic of Poland." "And we both hope that the Poles will succeed in getting" "the two forces opposing each other within the Polish people" "to reach some sort of agreement." "We both strictly adhere to the principle of non-intervention." "I would like to stress once more:" "regardless of whatever government was in place in Poland, we have always tried to support it with loans from our private banks that were in part state-guaranteed and are costing our Minster of Finance Mr. Matthöfer vast amounts of money." "Whatever government was in place, we wanted to help Poland economically." "But this is now very clearly approaching its limits." "GÜSTROW christmas fair" "I can't see anything!" "Where is he?" "I can't see anything!" "Goodbye." "All the best." " All the best." "Mr. Franke?" " Sorry." " My foreign minister." "Minister for intra-German relations Franke says goodbye to Honecker." "GDR Foreign Minister Fischer and GDR Ambassador in Bonn Ewald Moldt." "I wouldn't want to repeat that." "Everyone is pretty relaxed now things are coming to an end, and the train is about to depart." "Erich Honecker just said hello to an employee of the East-German Railway." "Or was it Government Spokesman" "Kurt Becker?" "No, it wasn't." "One might ask why the train isn't leaving, I don't know, but now... the whistle sounds!" "All the best and best wishes for the New Year." " Have a nice Christmas." "Mr. Franke, all the best." " Bye, Mr. Honecker." "The two diesel engines in front of the train" "pull it out of the Güstrow train station." "Here you can see the restaurant car in which the Chancellor will shortly enjoy some refreshments." "These are the last images of the Güstrow train station, and also the last images of a live broadcast coming from the middle of the GDR." "Something of a rarity in broadcasting history." "This report will show you that waiters hold their trays in the left hand," "leaving the right hand free." "That's only half-full." " The day before yesterday I saw a waiter who had the tray in his right hand." " That's wrong." "Unprofessional." "What's the right way?" " Left!" " Always in the left hand." "I need my right hand, to help ladies into their coat, or out of them." "Or if some lady hands me a plate, I have to take it." " The reason is" "I serve the guests their drinks or their food from the right." "When people get a fright, they usually jump to the left." "Mostly to the left." "That's why I serve from the right, in case they haven't seen me coming." "People are right-hand minded." "All the shops are laid out that way." "Wherever they go, people first look right." "Things come from the right." "Anything from the left scares them." " What's that go to do with waiters?" "I don't want to scare a guest." "He wants to have his peace and quiet." "If he feels comfortable, he'll stay longer and drink more." "Spend more." "The danger is, when I come from the left, and the guest hasn't seen me coming, he'll start in some kind of reflex and knock the beer off my tray." "That's what might happen." "But not if you serve from the right." "At least not that often." "He knows we serve from the right." " Could you show me how one holds a tray?" " Like this." "Four fingers underneath." "Like this." "To keep the balance." "Heavy things on the inside, light ones on the outside." "Saturday, April 26th, 1986, 10 p.m." "Between enemy lines" "During the Battle of Stalingrad a German soldier gets in between enemy lines." "He hesitates." "He could go west and across the steppe to Germany, or east, into town, where the others are." "He decides to go into town." "He walks and walks..." "He lands himself in the Battle of Stalingrad." "After 60 days the battle is decided." "He seeks shelter in the sewers." "One morning the Russians fire into the sewers." "Lance Corporal Metzger gets wounded in the foot." "Unguarded he walks into captivity on a shoe dripping with blood." "Max the waiter, who used to be a ladies' man, cannot forget his wife, who only married him for his passport." "Max has spent the 5,000 marks from his marriage on visits to his wife." "He follows her around." "He thinks he loves her, threatens her." "But she belongs to another man." "Feel this." "No." "Never." "She won't be blackmailed." "Her daily service." "This is the man she belongs to." "This can't go on, Mr. Max." "It must be the 12th or 14th time that we're having this discussion, and always in front of the guests." "I'm sorry, I've tried to apologize." " You're sorry?" "When I'm 20 minutes late, it's nothing to do with "womanizing!"" "But you chase everything in a skirt!" "That's what you always accuse me of." " That's not the point." " But it is!" "It is exactly the point!" "It's not womanizing, it's about a single woman." "And this woman is my wife!" "Cheers, Missus!" " Getting fresh now, too, eh?" "I don't believe it!" "That's the damn limit!" "This is..." "Mr. Max, at least clean up your mess, will you?" "This won't do!" "She gives the money to the man she belongs to." "This woman is destined to servitude." "She bears my name." "I've always paid her." "And I love her!" "What other attestations do I need?" "I have no other friend left." "Not with me!" " I have no other friend left." "Still, not with me." " With whom then?" "Not with me." " I need her right now." "It's not about what you need, but what I'm prepared to do." " Do it." "It's an emergency." " It isn't." " I need her right now." "How much?" " 15,000." "It's extremely dangerous." "With the stolen money he buys his wife." "I wouldn't touch a scumbag like you." " Thanks for the scumbag!" "I won't leave." " Do as you please." "I'll go call my husband." " Who?" "There's no point in arguing." " I think there is!" "No, it's over." "The only thing you can do now, is clean up this mess." "Danny, could you come over here right now?" "Why?" "I had to take insults from Max again." "He left his work, came back again half an hour later, is throwing glasses around and keeps insulting me." "I won't have it." "Come over here, now." "Who knows what he'll do next, so hurry up, okay?" "I'll be back in 5 minutes." "She is gone." "When he imagines her as an African princess, as he is likely doing now, he gets dizzy, because then he is rich." "Mrs. Kügelgen made it this time." "She managed to get to the hospital." "She must get to the apartment she'll never see again to sort something out." "She's nervous." "The day she fell..." "Yeah, so now the dear woman is in the hospital." "If it weren't so sad, it'd be funny." "Every 2 or 3 days some young doctor drops by, asking us, the neighbors, to see to her apartment." "We've been feeding the birds, she so dearly loves." "She's always keen to keep her home very tidy." "We've been asked to wash her curtains." "Always bearing in mind, that it's probably all in vain, as the lady..." "How shall I put it?" "As the doctors tell me, she'll never be able to live in this place again." "Lately we've all been, not exactly nursing her, but watching her." "Her mind's still fit and she knows everything, but she can't walk." "And when she makes herself a cup of tea, she starts trembling, or she stumbles and has to pull herself up again." "What is it she wants?" "What's she thinking?" "She always wants to be by the window." "She told me she wants to go home to move the furniture around." "Multiple sclerosis, intention tremor," "ascending paralysis, staccato speech, and all of them progressive." "She knows just what's wrong with her." " But still she tries to get up to get to a window." "She told me she wants to go home." "One last time." "She has to move some furniture and it's important she gets to her place." "Her last will" "Doctor..." "After all, you can't rule it out..." "If worst comes to the worst, Doctor," "I would like the chairs to be pushed into the corner on the right for the winter." "The roses should be put onto the dressing table." "What sort of roses, Mrs. Kügelgen?" "Christmas roses?" "Proper roses." "2.75 a bunch." "If worst comes to the worst, Doctor, Gerda has to be informed." "Her number is Hagen 53926." "I leave to Gerda" ""The Fountain of Knowledge."" "And the picture on the left." "The typewriter is too old." "My son..." "That's no use." "I..." "I'll hold out for 3 more weeks." "When the worst come to the worst, Doctor, and it's all over" "I'd like everything to stay the way it is until November 6th," "the day of my husband's death." "Let everything be the way it is." "Until it's all over." "St. Nicholas' Day" "The day that hit her hard" "Nurse!" "Nurse?" "Doctor's round" "Good morning, Mrs. Kügelgen." "Doctor." "How are you today?" "Well..." "May I have a look at your feet?" "New Year's Eve!" "Two brothers" "There once were two brothers." "Every time an engine broke down while marching west or east to Stalingrad they would repair it." "There wasn 't anything with an engine they couldn 't fix." "And so in August 1942 they reached the Volga." "It is reported that in the final stage of the battle for Stalingrad, when the Soviet troops had already broken the encirclement, there was an outbreak of cannibalism among remaining German troops hiding in the cellars." "One report says:" ""They looked for newly dead, who were not yet cold and better for eating." "Finally they formed groups to overcome any opposition." "They practiced euthanasia." "Officers from some units came together in anti-cannibal groups, armed with crowbars and hammers, to kill any cannibal they found." "Day and night scouts looked for the tell-tale fires on which the cannibals prepared their meals."" "The brothers had agreed never to desert each other." "If one of them was to die, the other would protect and bury him." "This is the time to keep that promise." "For a few hours now one of the brothers has been dead." "Comrade, I' m giving you the explicit order to hand over the dead man." "We only want to bury him." "We only want to bury your brother." "In a simple grave." "Visitors come during the night." "They say, "We only want to bury him. "" ""We only want a piece of him. "" "A leg or a thigh..." "They keep trying to persuade him, hoping he will get tired from having to answer." "The brother protects the brother." "He is tired." "The next morning the brother was no longer where he used to be." "Rudolf Steiner wrote that man's astral soul stops growing after the age of 3:" ""Children grow up into adults." "Something within them, originating from distant stars, comes to a standstill."" "Summer 1986" "Wind" "Time passes, the world turns" "The whirlwind of life Is what I love" "I never see the day Just the lights by night" "I'm always there" "Where people drink, where they laugh" "Never alone, nowhere at home" "The dance goes on Day in and day out" "And sometimes Reality disappears..." "Eyes front!" "Eyes... right!" "Secretary General of NATO Lord Carrington arrives at the German Ministry of Defense." "Emergency luggage" "Family register" "Car registration" "Post office savings book" "According to the guidelines a transistor radio should be part of any air raid shelter's equipment." "It is important to wire the aerial, useless in a cellar, to the banisters and fix it with a clamp." "The radio will allow citizens to hear the advice of the radiation protection commission." "I see my image" "From another time" "The apple tree" "Frail white dream" "Of times past" "Silent summer breeze" "A mild scent of flowers" "Beyond time and space" "In the twilight" "And the world" "Was young" "With a film contribution by Volker Schlöndorff" "Subtitles" "Film und Video Untertitelung Gerhard Lehmann AG"