"...together with major contributions... by many others, present:" "A film in 13 parts with an epilogue, based on the novel by Alfred Döblin." "Ilse, make coffee for two!" " Yes, Madam." "Well, Mieze, what do you say now?" "Have you ever seen anything like it?" "You've never seen an apartment like this, have you?" "My God!" "They're real monkeys!" "The guy's so crazy about me... he even set up the room with the monkeys for me." "But why monkeys?" "Herbert's mad about monkeys." "He thinks they're fun." "When he comes here, he plays with them." "What?" "You bring Herbert here?" "Why not?" "What harm can it do?" "After all, the other guy knows Herbert." "He's really jealous of him." "It's a good thing he's jealous." "If he weren't so jealous, he'd have ditched me long ago." "Yeah, I suppose so." "What do you mean, "I suppose so"?" "It's true." "He wants us to have a child." "Just imagine!" "He wants me to have his child!" "I'd have obliged him, only I don't want one by him." "Not by him." "What about Herbert?" "Wouldn't he like one?" "No idea." "I don't think he can." "I'd like one by Herbert, but somehow it just doesn't work out." "I'd like one by Franz, too." "What's the matter, Mieze?" "Are you mad at me?" "Mieze, stop it!" "Oh, come here, Eva!" "Come here!" "I'm not mad at you." "I'm glad you like Franz." "Tell me how much you like Franz." "You'd like a child by Franz?" "My God, then tell him!" "Are you crazy?" "What's up with you, Mieze?" "Tell me straight!" "Do you want to match me up with Franz?" "What makes you think that?" "I want to keep him." "He's my Franz." "But you're my Eva, too." "What am I?" "My Eva." "Hey, Mieze!" "Are you a dyke?" "Not at all." "I just happen to like you." "I didn't know for sure before, but when you said just now... you'd like to have a baby by Franz," "I suddenly knew for sure." "Yes." "That's when you suddenly became strange." "Strange?" "What do you mean by "strange"?" "It's OK, Mieze." "Forget it!" "Come on!" "And you'd really like a baby by Franz?" "What's up with you?" "Tell me, Eva, do you want one by him or not?" "No." "I just said it off the top of my head." "That's not true." "You do want one." "You're just saying you don't, but you do want one." "It's so nice that you want a baby by Franz." "It's wonderful." "I'm so happy." "My God, I'm happy!" "You are a dyke, aren't you, Mieze?" "No, Eva, I'm not a dyke." "I've never touched a woman." "But you want to touch me." "Yes, but... only because I like you so much and... because you want a baby by Franz, and..." "And have one you shall, Eva:" "A baby, by my Franz." "Come on, Mieze!" "You're crazy!" "Oh, don't say no!" "You do want one." "Please, please!" "You must promise me... that you'll have a baby by Franz." " OK, Mieze." "Drink this now!" "Maybe one can talk sensibly with you again now." "You can always do that." "Anyway, Mieze, how do you like it here?" "What should I say?" "It's lovely, but at the same time," "so strange." "OK, then." "You really do like Franz, don't you?" "Yes." "Come here, baby!" "Sit down here with me!" "What I mean is, if you really like Franz, then you must take good care of the guy." "He's always running around with that Willy, with that little rogue." "He's no good for Franz." "But he likes Willy." "And what about you?" "Me?" "I like him as well." "If Franz likes him, I like him, too." "Because you're blind;" "you're still too young." "He's not good company for Franz." "And Herbert says the same." "He's a little rogue, Willy is." "He'll get Franz into trouble." "My God, Mieze!" "Wasn't it enough for him to lose one arm?" "What do you mean?" "Do you know something?" "Is something up, for heavers sake?" "Thank you, Ilse." "I'm going shopping now, Madam." "The gentleman will probably be back tonight." "Ilse, buy some flounder for tomorrow, you know how he likes that." "I'll try, Madam." "My God, Eva!" "Don't keep me in suspense!" "Tell me what's going on!" "Tell me!" "My God, Mieze!" "That's exactly the problem." "I don't know what's going on." "I don't follow Franz around, and neither do you." "Neither of us has time for that." "But where does Franz say he's going?" "He must say something, surely." "No, nothing really." "Just politics, and I don't understand a word." "You see!" "He's into politics... with communists, anarchists and all those bums, who don't even have pants to cover their ass." "He runs around with people like that." "And you like it?" "That's what you're working for?" "I can't tell Franz where to go." "You can't do that, Eva." "Mieze, I'll tell you one thing:" "If you weren't so young, I'd clobber you right now." "Suddenly you're not allowed to say anything." "Do you want to let Franz go to the dogs again?" "He won't go to the dogs." "I'll take care of that." "Mieze, don't take what I said to heart!" "I didn't mean it like that." "But you shouldn't let him run around with that stupid Willy." "You know what a good-natured guy Franz is." "He ought to attend to Pums, and the guy... who's to blame for his arm." "Do you understand?" "Yes." "I'll try to watch out." "You know, Mieze, I don't begrudge you Franz, but anyone else, I would." ""Near Abrudpanta, the bandit horde..."" ""roamed around abandonedly."" ""Guito, though, their leader brave,"" ""a good and noble man was he."" ""Guito, though, their leader brave, a good and noble man was he."" "Both know it's just a market song, where the music drones on;" "but still they have to weep when it's over, for sometimes life's too short for the eternity of feelings..." "And I still say... anyone in his right mind must believe in Nietzsche:" "Do whatever gives you pleasure." "Do you understand?" "Nietzsche." "Anything else is drivel, old boy." "My wife's sick." "She can't have me at home in the evening." "She needs her peace." "You get used to going to bars if you've got a sick wife at home." "Put her in hospital!" "Keeping a sick wife at home is not right either." "She's been in hospital, but I took her out again." "She didn't like the food." "Things didn't get better, though." "Is your wife very sick?" "Her uterus has become joined with her rectum or something." "They operated on her, but it didn't help internally." "Now the doctor says it's just nerves:" "It's more or less her imagination." "But she's in such pain and bawls all day." "Can you believe it?" "Soon he'll take her off the sick list." "Just you wait!" "Because anyone with sick nerves is healthy." "You're not getting political again, are you, Eddie?" "Let's not talk about it, not even think about it!" "Politics won't get us anywhere, just the others." "I just want to live." "Do you understand?" "Four more Kümmels, Maxie, and a beer for him, too!" "Coming up!" "I don't give a hoot for your Marxism:" "Lenin and Stalin and that lot." "Whether I can get a loan and for how long... and how much:" "That's what's important in this world." "You make it sound all very simple, Max, but things aren't as simple as that." "I don't need Marxism either, or anything else like that." "What I do need I can count on my fingers every day." "When someone beats the hell out of me," "I know what it means;" "or if I've got work today, but I'm out on my ear tomorrow, because there are no more orders." "The foreman stays and the boss, too, of course, but I'm out on the street and have to go on welfare." "And if I've got kids, and the oldest one is bowlegged from rickets," "I can't send her away somewhere." "Maybe the school will send her to the country;" "but only maybe." "The worst thing is... the kids learn only as much as we did." "Just imagine:" "Only as much as we did." "They don't teach them anything we didn't learn." "How can anything ever change?" "Cheers!" "Cheers!" "Cheers!" "And if I have to go to the doctor with rheumatism, there are 30 of us sitting in the waiting room." "Then the doctor says to me:" ""You've had rheumatism before?", and "How long have you been working?"" ""Or have you been fired?"" "He just doesn't believe me." "So then I'm sent to a medical examiner." "If you want to be sent somewhere by the state insurance, they always dock your wages for it." "You'd have to carry your head under your arm... before they'd send you free." "No, Max, it's not as simple as you think." "The whole thing's not that simple." "Nobody needs Karl Marx to figure that out." "And that's the truth, Max." "Come on!" "Let's drink up!" "Cheers!" "Well, one thing I must say:" "There are a lot of bowlegged people in this world, and they don't have money to go to the country either." "If you ask me, it's not so tragic... to have bowlegs." "No one said it was tragic." "I was just talking about bowlegs and a girl who has them, and saying she's a poor thing, and that she can't get sent to the country." "And anyway, with rich kids... it doesn't happen so often anyway:" "Having bowlegs." "There have always been rich and poor people." "Sure, there have, but poverty should be for those who want it." "Let the others be poor, for all I care." "Just count me out!" "In the end, you can't stand it anymore, when it's always the same people who are poor." "Here, Maxie." "Thank you!" "Hey, Franz!" "What's up?" "We were going to..." "Forget it, Willy!" "I want to hit the sack early, ...because of yesterday." ""Wait, just wait a little while,"" ""Haarmann, the murderer, will come to you..."" ""with a hatchet and a smile,"" ""to make liver sausage out of you."" "He still doesn't believe me." "I have to go to a medical examiner." "If I want the insurance to send me somewhere, they always dock money for it." "You'd have to carry your head under your arm... before they'd send you somewhere." ""Wait, just wait a little while."" ""Soon fortune will arrive to grant you more."" ""With a hatchet and a smile,"" ""there, he's waiting at your door."" "Child molester scandal!" "Czech Jew abuses 20 boys!" "No arrest made!" "Child molester scandal!" "Czech Jew abuses 20 boys!" "No arrest made!" "Her uterus has become joined with her rectum." "They operated on her, but... it didn't help internally." "Child molester scandal!" "Czech Jew abuses 20 boys!" "No arrest made!" "Child molester scandal!" "Czech Jew abuses 20 boys!" "What's up?" "Something bothering you?" "Why do you ask?" "You're acting so strange:" "Walking around me." "Out with it if you've got a problem!" "Nothing really." "It's just that..." "I used to sell newspapers myself." "So what?" "That's what I said:" "It's nothing really." "And the kids learn exactly the same as we did." "You can imagine what comes of that." ""Drink, drink, brother mine, drink!"" ""Leave all your cares behind!"" ""Drink, drink, brother mine, drink!"" ""Leave all your cares behind!"" ""Forget all your worries, forget all your pain,"" ""Then life will be merry again..."" "And with a nervous illness, you're perfectly fit." "Anyone with a nervous illness is perfectly healthy." "Czech Jew exposed as child molester!" "No arrest made!" "And nobody needs Karl Marx for that anymore." "But it's true nevertheless." ""Forget all your worries, forget all your pain,"" ""and life will be merry again..."" "Taxi!" "What does a bowlegged person do in the country?" "What do I care about politics and all that crap?" "It's no help to me." "Take me to Tegel!" "Czech Jew exposed as child molester!" "No arrest made!" "Hey!" "Hey, you!" "Wake up!" "You can't sleep here at night." "It's not allowed." "Do you understand?" "It's against the law." "Against the law." "I understand, inspector." "I'm not an inspector, just a simple police officer, and proud of it, too!" "Proud, do you understand?" "Got it!" "What are you doing here anyway?" "Why are you sleeping at night on this bench?" "Haven't you got a home?" "Sure I've got a home." "I was just visiting here." "Who did you want to visit?" "That's obvious, isn't it?" "I wanted to visit Tegel, my prison, where I spent four years of my life." "That's what I wanted to visit." "Then suddenly I felt tired, and I fell asleep." "Just look at it!" "How it stands there, that prison!" "Isn't it a heart-warming sight?" "You're not right in the head." "No man in his right mind would visit a prison... and then lie down and fall asleep." "I'm tired, want to hit the sack." "I want to hit the sack." "I told you you can't sleep here." "If you go on like this, you'll be back in there faster than you think." "Where do you live?" "Achim-von-Arnim-Strasse number 32." "And how are you going to get back there?" "How do I get back there?" "It's too late for the bus." "You'll have to walk." "Yes, I guess I'll have to walk." "Taxi!" "Taxi!" "Got it?" "What's that?" "You have to do your job like everyone, inspector." "Got it?" " Got it." "Achim-von-Arnim-Strasse!" "Got you." "Little crook!" "...Freedom and golden flowers in his mouth... which he hasn't washed... because his tongue... is paralysed by a green tomato." "...the meaning of a new hairstyle has to do with freedom of life..." "It's starting all over again, the drinking!" "And he'd stopped." "It doesn't happen that often, Mrs. Bast." "Maybe he'll stop again soon." "That's what I thought back then:" "That it'd stop." "Then it happened with Ida." "That was something quite different with Ida." "And death, death is freedom... and death is in order." "And order is in order;" "order is organized;" "and freedom is death and is order." "And order is no freedom..." "And the green flowers don't bloom..." "Did you drag him up here like that?" "What should I have done?" "You should have rung the bell." "Ida always did." "He's not moving anymore." "Let him sleep!" "He's often slept in the armchair." "He's used to that." "Franz, listen to me!" "Wake up!" "Come to bed!" "You'll be more comfortable, Franz." "Save yourself the trouble, Miss Mieze." "It's no use now." "One thing you should know though:" "In that state, he snores louder than ever." "I don't mind." "On the contrary," "I quite like it when he snores." "Well, that's love for you!" "Good night, anyway." "Franz!" "My dear, dear, Franz, can't you hear me?" "Can't you hear me anymore?" "Franz!" "A newspaper has a lot of letters, and the letters are black." "A car is black, and the trees are red." "Blood is red." "But freedom is not order:" "Order is black;" "black, like the car." "And black... like the car are the letters in my newspaper." "My God, Mieze!" "Lay into me, will you?" "Just say something!" "I can't stand it when you don't say anything." "What have I done to you?" "Is it because I was so late last night?" "Mieze, is it because I came home so late last night?" "No, Franz." "It's because you're making yourself unappy." "How am I making myself unappy?" "You get involved with people who are no good for you." "You mean..." "You mean Willy?" "For example." "My God!" "Look me in the face again!" "Mieze!" "Franz, don't get involved in politics!" "I'm not involved in politics." "Will you stop going to those meetings?" "If you don't want me to, OK." "Do you promise?" "Hey!" "That's enough!" "When I say something, I stick to it." "And anyway, you're quite right." "I'm doing just fine." "What do I care?" "What do I care about politics?" "If people are dumb enough to let themselves be exploited, it's not my fault." "Why, why should I worry about other people?" "Thank you, thank you, thank you." "I never realized... it was so important to you:" "Politics, the meetings, and all that." "I just didn't say anything." "But everything's OK now." "What's the matter now?" "You're standing there again." "I thought we could have breakfast quietly together, but you're standing there again pulling a face." "X. Loneliness Tears Cracks of Madness Even in Walls" "Franz?" "Yes?" "I couldn't tell you before." "What are you talking about?" " I wanted to be quite sure." "Well, now you've started, just keep going!" "It's nothing bad, Franz." "It's just that..." "I've met a guy..." "You've done what?" "...and he wants something more permanent, like Eva's guy." "And he's almost as rich as Eva's guy." "He's married, which is actually an advantage." "You understand?" "Something more permanent." "And he's got money." "He's rich, and he's married... and you're pussyfooting like that?" "There's something behind it." "There's something behind it." "No, Franz, there's really nothing behind it." "It's just that... it was the first time, and..." "I didn't know how to tell you." "Then he said he'd rent a little apartment for me, and I wanted to wait and see if he really would." "Well, now he has." "So I thought..." "I have to tell you, and..." "No, Franz, that's all." "There's nothing else." "Franz!" "Oh, Franz, please, please... believe me!" "There's nothing, nothing else behind it." "Look me in the eyes, Franz!" "There's really nothing else behind it?" "My God!" "You... you sure can scare a guy." "It's because you never believe me." "That's because you're a woman, I guess." "What's up now?" "Why are you in such a hurry?" "Got something planned?" "Nothing really." "I just have to take a look at the apartment." "I haven't seen it yet." "And, besides..." "Yes?" "What "besides"?" "Besides, Eva's coming at eleven." "So what!" "Ah," "I should have told you about it earlier." "About what, Mieze?" "What else is there?" "It's just that..." "I've made an arrangement with Eva." "I've agreed with Eva... that she can have a baby by you." "We discussed it, Eva and I." "I was really happy." "It really took some persuasion." "I had to beg her." "And then... then she agreed." "I knew it!" "I knew there was something behind it." "You want to get rid of me." " No!" "I don't want to get rid of you!" "I could see there was something behind it." "I could see there was something up..." "An animal being led to slaughter, that's what I am." "And only one arm:" "Worse than an animal for slaughter." "You can imagine what a sow would do... when it's led into the pen." "A sow's better off than a man;" "it's just a lump of meat and a lump of fat." "Not much can happen to it... as long as there's enough swill." "At most, it can have another litter." "At the end of its life, there's the knife, which is nothing very exciting." "Before the creature knows what's happening," " and what does it know?" " it's dead." "Whereas a man... a mars got ears." "There's more to him." "Everything's all mixed up." "A man can think a hell of a lot." "He has to think, because he's got this terrible head..." "Stop it!" "...and he always thinks about what's going to happen." "What do you mean, "Stop it!"?" "Why shouldn't I talk like that?" "Hey!" "I asked you what you mean." "I ask you what you mean." "I mean, quite simply... that what you said is not true." "I don't want to get rid of you." "On the contrary," "I love you," "and I believe..." "I'll always love you." "But I've been to physicians, once in Bernau and twice more in Berlin." "All three said the same thing:" "That I can never have a baby, never." "And when Eva said she wanted to have one, but it's not possible with Herbert... and she doesn't want one by that old guy, only by you, oh, Franz, I was so happy!" "I wept tears of joy." "Because... then I'd have one, too." "That's why all the things you said... are just not true." "Come in!" "Miss Eva is here, Mr. Biberkopf." "Why don't you show her in?" "Well, since you ask, things were a little loud a moment ago..." "It's all right, Mrs. Bast." "Aha, so she's told you?" "Why are you laughing?" "Because of the situation." "We've been together so often, but it was never like this." "Do you want to?" "Unbutton me at the back." "I can't manage it alone." "And even though Sonia and Eva knew... it was just a common song from the weekly market, they both had to cry when they had finished singing it." "Hurry up!" "He's honking like mad." "OK." "I'm ready." "Come on!" "Let me get past!" "OK, OK!" "I'm coming." "Eva!" "How are things?" "Not too bad." "Life drags on, day by day." "Something comes along today, and you miss it;" "something else tomorrow, and you forget about it." "Something's always happening to you." "Life takes care of things." "Herbert, pull over there by Dorfmann, please!" "I ordered a slip." "I could pick it up now." "You really know how to bug a guy." "A slip!" "A slip is a normal personal thing." "Excuse me!" "Like a drop?" "No, thanks." "You shouldn't booze so much either." "I'm not hearing right." "What was that?" "Look, what have you ever been?" "A newspaper vendor!" "And where are you now?" "You've lost an arm, but you've got Mieze." "She provides for you." "You don't have to start boozing again." "There's no question of that." "When I drink, it's out of boredom." "You sit there, and what do you do?" "You have a drink." "And then you have another and another." "Anyway I can handle it." "That's what you say:" "You can handle it." "Look at yourself in the mirror!" "Look at your eyes!" "What's wrong with my eyes?" "Bags under them like an old man." "You're making yourself old with drink." "Drinking makes you old." "OK, cut it out!" "Let's drop the subject." "What do you mean "drop the subject"?" "You stop drinking!" "Why shouldn't I drink, Herbert?" "What do you all want from me?" "I can't do anything!" "Nothing!" "I'm a 100 percent invalid, but everyone finds fault with me." "One says: "Don't drink!"" "Another says: "Don't go with Willy!";" "and another says: "No politics!"" "Well, politics:" "If you can't do without it..." "It's not as bad as drinking." "Herbert, look at me!" "I'm a cripple." "I'm no good for anything." "Hey!" "Don't overdo it!" "Tell that to Eva or Mieze." "Oh, for bed..." "I'm OK." "I know." "But otherwise..." "Look, Herbert, you're somebody." "You do something." "You and the boys." "And you?" "If you really want to, even with one arm, you can do business." "Don't give me that!" "Mieze didn't want me to." "She got round me and cut me down to size." "Then make a new start!" "So now I should make a new start." "Stop, start;" "like a little dog." "Up on the table!" "Down from the table!" "Up, down!" "I'm a cripple, Herbert." "Look at my sleeve!" "There's nothing in it." "Do you know how my shoulder hurts at night?" "I can't sleep." "Then go to the doctor!" "I don't want to." "I just don't want to hear about doctors." "Then ask Mieze... to go away with you, out of Berlin." "Get a change of air!" "No, no." "I'd rather booze it up, Herbert." "And end up doing the same to Mieze as you did to Ida?" "What?" "Weren't those four years enough for you?" "Hey, hold it a moment!" "You're out of your mind." "I'm out of my mind." "Boy!" "That wasn't easy." "First they can't find it, then they say they haven't ordered it, and then they find it after all..." "Say, is something up with you two?" "Herbert said I shouldn't booze so much." "You really said that?" "Yes, I really said that." "Why shouldn't he drink?" "Do you want the same to happen as before?" "You're crazy!" "Shut up!" "For God's sake stop it and drive me home!" "Is she here?" "Just arrived home." "Mieze?" "Mieze?" "What's up?" " Mieze!" "My one and only!" "Just tell me one thing:" "Whether I may booze." "Sure you may, but not too much." "But I may booze?" "Sure you may, but not too much, because it's unealthy, OK?" "And... wouldn't you like... to get canned once, too?" "With you." "Mieze, you want to get canned with me?" "But you've never been canned, have you?" "Sure I have." "You have?" "Come on, Franz!" "Let's get canned!" "Right now." "And there beside her stands Franz:" "Such a dear girl, such a good girl." "She seems so small beside him:" "He could stick her in his pocket." "She hugs him." "He holds her around the hips with his left arm." "And then..." "Then Franz is absent, just for a second." "His arm around her hips is stiff." "In his mind, his arm should make a movement." "His face is as hard as stone." "In his thoughts he was holding a small wooden instrument, and he struck Mieze a blow with it from above, hit her in the chest, once, twice, and smashed her ribs." "Hospital, cemetery, Tegel Prison." "They said..." "I shouldn't drink so much." "I should steer clear of politics, the man said." "Mieze!" "Mmm, is that good!" "Oh, Franz!" "Mieze, Mieze!" "Franz, Franz..." "Excuse me, I..." "There's a gentleman here for you, Miss Mieze, a Mr. Freimut." "Shall I show him in?" "Who is it?" "It's him." "Who?" " The guy with the apartment." "I'd forgotten all about him." "Oh, I see..." " Come on!" "Get up, Franz!" "Mrs. Bast, send him in, please." "May I come in?" "Yes, come on in!" "Thanks very much." "I was waiting the whole time." "And then I thought, maybe..." "I was about to come down anyway." "Well then, this is Franz." "He's my husband." "And Franz, this is George." "Hello!" "Hello, Mr. Biberkopf!" "Excuse me, but I'm afraid..." "I must give you my left hand." "The right one's no longer with us." "A terrible war!" "Yes." "A terrible war!" "What a charming person your wife is." "Yes," "I know." "Yes, of course you do." "I must say, for me perhaps the most... delightful thing about a woman... is when she gets dressed." "When she gets dressed?" "Yes, I know it sounds strange, but a woman makes such beautiful movements when she gets dressed;" "more beautiful than when she undresses." "Don't you think so?" "Well, yes, if you look at it that way." "Oh, of course." "Only if you look at it that way." "You want to go out with Mieze?" "Yes, of course." "Didn't she tell you?" "For two or three days..." "No, no, she didn't tell me anything about it." "I didn't have a chance to tell you." "Excuse us a moment." "Of course." "Should I go outside?" "No, that's really not necessary." "Take a seat!" " Thank you." "If that's how things are, what do I have from you?" "What should I do?" "What's the matter, Franz?" "Nothing." "Beat it!" "Franz, why are you crying?" "Beat it!" "Franz, don't shout like that, please!" "And stop crying!" "Beat it, I said." "My shoulder hurts so badly." "Why does my shoulder hurt so badly?" "They hacked off my arm." "Simply cut it off!" "Gone!" "Those goddamned bastards!" "My arm's gone, and they did it." "They did it." "They just left me lying there, and now it hurts." "They could have torn off my whole shoulder." "Then it wouldn't hurt me now." "But they didn't do me in." "They didn't manage that." "They didn't have any luck with me." "But like this, it's no good either." "Now I can lie here, and there'll be no one around;" "no one to hear me if I shout, if my shoulder hurts and my arm." "They should have finished me off right away." "What am I now?" "Only half a man." "I can't stand it anymore." "I'm finished." "What am I going to do?" "What the hell am I going to do?" "Let's go!" "It's my job, Franz." "I have to do it." "I have to." "Mieze!" "The serpent in the soul of the serpent" "End of part 10, with"