Keep, The (1983)

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DINU PASS, CARPATHIAN ALPS,
ROMANIA 1941

Your new home.

How do you like it?

Not very well, sir.

Why not?

We should be in Russia.

For what?

The final as*ault on Moscow.

You could transfer.

But by the time you got there,

Russia would've gone like France,

Belgium, Holland...
all the rest.

We're all done fighting.

Now we are the masters
of the world.

Doesn't it enthrall you, Oster?

Yes, sir.

Good!

But we have been assigned
to guard this pass,

so here is where you'll stay.

Tell the men to get out.

Dismount!

Ernst!
Ernst!

Machine g*ns come across the
ravine into the keep with us.

What are you doing here?

I'm the caretaker, sir.

And they?

They're my sons.

There's a 108 such crosses
made of nickel

embedded in the walls
of the keep.

You counted them?

Or is it something you tell
to your customers?

I'm Alexandru.

My sons and I work here.

No one tours this place.

I thought the keep
was unoccupied.

We go home at night,

we live in the village.

- Where is the owner?
- I have no idea.

- Who is he?
- I don't know.

Who tells you what to do?

We do what needs doing.

My father spent his life
doing it,

his father before him,
and so on.

My sons will continue after me.

There you are.

You may continue your maintenance
after we settle in.

You cannot stay here.

And why not?

No one stays here.

And who forbids it?

No one forbids,

we don't stop them,

but no one stays the night.

Ghosts? Demons?

No, no ghosts here.

Death then? Suicides?

No one's ever died here.

Then what drives people out
in the middle of a rainy night?

Dreams...

Nightmares?

Old man,

The real nightmares
man has made

upon other men in this w*r.

The bad dreams of your keep

are nursery rhyme
in comparison.

Come on, I want a tour.

Who built the keep?

Some say Turks,
some say

the warlords of ancient Valachia.

No no no.
This is not a fortress.

A soldier could walk up
the outside wall.

Why are the small stones
on the outside,

and the large stones here
in the interior?

It's constructed

backwards.

This place was not designed

to keep something... out.

What is this place?

No one knows for sure.

Herr Officer, stop them!

Stop what?

They're ripping the walls!

Old man, spikes for lights,
we have generators.

The Wehrmacht doesn't live
by candlelight.

Then is he stringing lights?

Soldier!
What's your assignment!?

To string lights, sir.

Then what the hell are you doing?
Answer!

Silver crosses, sir.

There is talk among the men
they hide silver here.

Treasure, sir.

Private Lutz, it's been a
profitable day for you.

Not only have you learned the
crosses are made of nickel, not silver,

but you've earned yourself a
place on first watch all week!

Get out!

Never touch the crosses!

Never!

And why not?

You must not stay here.

Good day. Alexandru.

Nickel!

Nickel...

Yes, nickel,

but not this one.

Otto!

Otto!

I'm on duty!

Forget it, c'mon.

Look at this!

Silver!

Look Lutz! Look at the block!

This is the only silver cross.

This block moves.

Behind this one block

there may be more silver.

Are you ready to be rich?

Oh yes.

The passage, I knew it.

Let's take this cross and place the block
and come back later.

That's stupid, others will hear.
Why share this?

Raw block.

Tie these on my ankle.

Silver, there's more silver.

Ah! Ah!

Pull me back!
Pull me back!

Lutz! Lutz!

Stand down!

PIREAUS, GREECE

- I need to hire a boat.
- Where to?

Constance, on the Romanian coast.

Too dangerous.
Very expensive.

Steiner. Last night
it was Steiner.

That makes five dead,

and I checked with
the radio man,

there's been no answer to
your request for relocation.

Stop this, please!

Stop!

Wait! Wait!

In this village

partisans have been operating

against the greater German Reich.
- Are you insane!?

SS Einsatzkommando
Sturmbannführer Koempffer, is what I am.

Captain Klaus Woermann,
is what you are.

Your request for relocation
is denied, Woermann.

I am now in command over
this emplacement,

and you will not interfere
with our actions.

You, you, you,
you and you.

Bring them to the keep.

There are no partisans
in this village!

These men know nothing!

If one more German soldier dies,

all five hostages will be shot.

And five more will be shot
every time whenever the German is k*lled.

We will continue until
partisan activity stops

or we run out of villagers.

There are no partisans!

You, see to it that my Eisatzkommando
has quarters.

Those people you m*rder*d
are Romanian citizens!

We are on allied state!

Let's have an immediate
understanding, Woermann.

Who gives a damn about a death
of a few communists?

Listen to me.

MG 34's cover the entrance,

lights illuminate the perimeter,

and whatever kills us,
gets in anyway.

Nothing that we do,
no security works.

We have seen no partisans!

- Something has been released!
- Something?

What do you mean 'something',
Woermann?

Are you trying to create
a mystery?

To excuse your incompetence
in protecting your men?

My competence
was proven in combat

against soldiers who sh**t back,

not slaughtering civilians.

And I am a political soldier,
Woermann.

And I shall say it once only:
your security doesn't work

because your methods
are wrong.

The answer's fear,
Woermann,

fear.

From now on these partisans
will be afraid to k*ll,

because they will fear

the price their actions
cost these villagers to pay.

Now listen,

something else is k*lling us.

And if it doesn't care

about the lives
of three villagers,

if it is like you,

then does your fear work?

Take that brilliant thought

back to Dachau with you
when you go.

If you go.

Because here in this keep,

Herr Sturmbannführer Kaempffer,

you may learn something new.

Neither you nor the keep
can teach me anything.

We found the rest of Steiner.

Come, SS Einsatzkommando
Sturmbannführer Koempffer.

See the latest present
our friend has left us.

Come.

Bring a hostage.

Explain this, Kaempffer,

this is what's
happening to us.

What do these words mean?

Herr Officer, I don't know.

Don't lie to me, those words
are Romanian.

What do they say?
I want to know.

They look like Romanian,
Herr Officer, but they're not.

I don't know what they say!

He's telling the truth!

Make him stop!

What do you suggest I do?

Arrest him?

Priest, you're next.

Teach him the art of translation.

Herr Officer,

this writing is like Romanian,
but different, it's meaningless, it's...

not written in the Latin alphabet,
nor in the Cyrillic alphabet.

What can you tell us about
the keep we don't know already?

Me? Nothing.

Yes, you were about
to say more.

- You can tell us nothing.
- No.

- Who can?
- No one.

Don't lie to me,

or I'll sh**t this man dead.

There's a professor of
medieval history,

at the university
in the city of Jassy.

He's made a study of this keep.

Perhaps he can translate
that for you.

- His name?
- Dr. Theodore Cuza.

He grew up in this village.

Herr Officer,

Dr. Cuza is not in Jassy.

Then where?

Dr. Cuza is a Jew.

He's wherever you've
taken the Jews.

Good.

The SS will bring them
today from the depot.

Do you play tonight?

I don't play music here.

Josefa not happy here.

Why are you here, girl?

I'm Eva Cuza.

This is my father Dr. Cuza.

We are Jews. The Gypsies
are not the only ones

who are enemies of the state.

When we reach that new
settlement place they say

we are going to, then I
play music for you, gadgie girl.

There are farms,
and wheat fields there...

they said.

Where are you going
in such a hurry?

Into the pass.

Get down.

How far?

To the keep.

Move away from the machine.

Open the case.

Don't... touch that.

I will tell you something
a few know.

The people who go to these
resettlement camps.

There are only two doors,

one in, and one out.

The one out is a chimney.

You'd better find a way to be
of use to me in three days.

Three days.

Or back to the camps.
Go you

and your daughter.

What does it mean?

Can you understand it?

Well?

The former is in the imperative.

It says:

'I Will Be Free'

So we do have partisans.

It is old Slavonic, but written

the Glagolitic alphabet.

Your partisans are writing to you

in a language that
has been dead for 500 years.

Wood. We need wood for a fire.

Does it get that cold?

Look at my father.

He looks 68?

He's 48.

Eva!

He's dying from a variety
of scleroderma.

With the temperature
in this room

gangerine will be
in his fingers in an hour.

Alright, that's enough!

He won't last
Major Kaempffer's 3 days.

You'll get the wood,
and some furniture

and lights.

Get your food from our mess.

Let me tell you two something.

The Major will snuff you out,
like that.

He has his reasons
for a quick solution.

I have mine.

I don't want any more
of my men to die.

Find out what is k*lling us.

And I may be able to
get you to Bucharest

and keep you safe.

And then again, you may not.

Mihai, how did you
manage this?

I didn't think I could.

You rescued us. For me
it doesn't matter, but for Eva...

What fairy tales
did you tell them?

None.

They made up their own.

But I made them believe that
you could solve their problems

just to get you brought here.

And now, now
we must get you out.

How?

Today I arrange a guide.

Tomorrow you ask to see the old
Slavonic manuscripts in the church.

The guide will take you from the
church across the mountains

to the Dnieper, from there
the Black Sea... anywhere

How far do you think I'll get?

I can't fight.
I can't walk, nothing.

You just get Eva out of here.

Listen to me!

They've already k*lled
three villagers here,

including old Simonescu.

I was in Brasov. They're rounding up
trade unionists, journalists,

Jews, Gypsies... God knows
what happens to them.

We found out what happens.

I'm not going without you.

You'll have to try.

I'll carry you on my back
if I must.

So,

How are you?

Don't ask.

Whoever thought of sticking
the miracle of human intellegence

inside one of these
decaying bodies,

he should have been fired.

So where else would God
to put the human soul?

In a desk.

Maybe a street car.

It wouldn't have been so bad,
it breaks, you get a new part.

Blasphemy.

One of these days you're
gonna believe in the divine.

You believe in gods,
I believe in men.

How's Eva?

Eva?

Eva wastes her youth,

chained to an old man
in a wheelchair.

I should have a nurse.

She should live her own life.

She won't let anyone else
take care of you.

I have much to do.

One more thing, Mihai...

Yes?

The writing on the wall.

Yes?

You put it there?

No.

How'd it get there, Mihai?

There is something that you can
do for me, make me feel easier.

Keep it with you, just...
just two days,

as a favor.

Hey, Günter, it's your sister!

May I help you?

Get your hands off me.

Sit down.

Go on, Jürgen,
use your charm.

- Get her the helping, man.
- All right, that's enough!

Eva!

Eva!

Get away from my child!

Take me and leave her alone!

What have you done to her?

What are you?

Why are you... here?

They thought I could find
what was k*lling their soldiers.

I have! Haven't I?

I need an ally,

but you...
you collaborate!

No!

Don't accuse me of
collaborating with Nazis.

I'd do anything to stop them.

If you don't believe me,
then k*ll me.

Papa?

Papa?

What happenend?

Your hands.

Your face!

I feel warm.

I know,

it brought you here.

Who?

No, that was a dream.

It was a nightmare.

It carried you here,
I saw it too.

What I saw wasn't real.

Look at my hands,
look at my face!

It touched my body.

Look at you.

I don't know what it is
and I don't care.

He's like a hammer,

and can now smash them!

What are you talking about?

We're dealing with a golem?
A devil!

A devil?
Now you listen to me.

The devil of the keep
wears a black uniform

and has a death's head at his cap

and calls himself a Sturmbannführer.

There were two more
deaths last night.

You are going to stay at the inn.

You have two minutes to pack.

Why?

Because I can at least keep
you safe from what is k*lling us.

And after the incident
in the mess,

maybe from the men too.

Maybe from the men.

I'm not going to leave
my father here alone.

- Yes, you should go.
- No.

You now have a minute
and 45 seconds.

A minute and 45 seconds
for what?

Fraülein Cuza's packing her
things and moving herself to the inn.

She is not going anywhere.

I forbid it, I will not permit you
to send my daughter away.

You? You forbid?

Let me tell you something,
you forbid nothing.

Nothing!

Get her out of here.

You're ready?

Almost.

Listen to me, my child.

You are the meaning
of my life.

Whatever I will do here,
whatever happens to me,

leave me behind,
escape!

Go with Mihai,
do not wait for me.

- No.
- Yes! Go.

Meet a man,

live a full life

and you live for me.

Who is this?

My son.

He died in Spain,
5 years ago this month.

Fighting on the Republicans side.

Were you in Spain?

If I were,

I would have been
in the Thälmann brigade,

with other anti-facist Germans.

Your son and I, we would have been
fighting on the same side.

But no, I wasn't.

What?

The cross.

Why do you, a Jew,
need a protection of the cross?

I don't.

It was a gift of a friend,
a humane man.

Listen to me, Captain Woermann,

I pass the gift on you.

Take it.

You're a humane man too
and you...

you may need it.

How did you get out?
Did they let you go?

Where's Theodore?

He's still inside.

Anything, Domnisoara [Miss] Cuza,
call Tomescu.

I have no money
to pay you right now.

Your father did me many
favors over the years,

forget about it.

Thank you, but we'll pay.

What are you doing here?

Is this the only room
overlooking the keep?

Yes.

Then I'll take it.

It's taken by Domnisoara [Miss] Cuza.

It's okay.

Where will you go?

Back into the keep,
away from here,

I don't know.

Why's your father in the keep?

He's being kept there by soldiers.

Are you going to wait for him?

Or leave?

I'm going to wait
right here for him.

Then you better stay here with me.

Why are you here?

Here I am.

Where do you come from?

I'm a traveller.

From where?

Everywhere.

Go to sleep.

And dream.

You have...

death around you.

At your hands?

No.

And what you sense is
my fate in a death camp?

A place where people gather to die?

A place where people are m*rder*d.

My people are m*rder*d?

Yes, and others from all over the...

Who does this?

Their leader in Berlin...

and the soldiers in black.

I will destroy them!

I will consume their lives.

When...

could you do this?

When I am complete,

in two nights,

if I can leave this place.

Why couldn't you?

Because an object of mine,

the origin of my power,

must be removed from the keep

and hidden in these mountains

and kept safe from people here,

and from anyone
who may come here.

It must be done by
someone I can trust.

Like you.

Only then can I leave the keep,

and destroy the soldiers in black

and their leaders.

Will you... carry this object

out of here for me?

Yes.

Mihai, I'm not leaving yet.

- Did you get Eva out?
- Eva...

Eva is at the inn.

There is something here,

a power.

This power is our salvation.

Power is God!

And the messiah,
his immortal son

who took flesh
of the holy mother

and ever virgin, Mary.
And I... I have been right!

And you...
you Theodore Cuza,

you have been wrong.

I was right in my simple faith!

I was right!

Fonescu, evil comes from the acts
between man and man.

It wears a swastika and
it believes in black dreams.

You know this.

What's happening to you?

Stay here, stay here
with your daughter

and burn with the others.

Burn with the misfits,
the Gypsies,

the heratics.

I won't lift a finger to help you!

Mihai...

Ha, Monster!

Burn in hell!

Mihai!

Come again in glory,

and judge both the living
and the dead,

and deliver of the grace us,

your faithful!

Mihai!

I never thought
I'd see you alive again.

Now we can get out.

Not yet.

Mihai... Mihai told me
you didn't leave.

You're all right?

Mihai's gone crazy.

What's happened to this place?

I can't help Mihai.

What's happened...

is that what was repressed
within the keep,

is spreading into the village.

Who are you?

What do you know about it?

This is...

I know that you've
bound yourself to him,

that you've agreed
to carry the talisman out.

It's the source of the power.

It is not his, it's what keeps
him inside the walls

and if you carry it out,

he will be released
into the world of men.

What's happening in the world is
worse than anything he can do.

He is the same.

Look at you.

Glenn...

What?

Listen,

my body? I don't give a damn about me,
I'm not doing this for me.

That's why he picked you.

Only someone uncorrupted could
even get near the talisman.

I don't listen to this.

You stop it. You stop it!

What are you doing?

Let's just get out of here.

Don't take it out.

What do you want?

There's a stranger at the inn.
He asks questions.

I believe he's connected with the people
who pay for the keep's maintenance.

Arrest the man.
Bring him to the keep.

This place...

seems to agree with you.

You look...

healthier.

This place has it's strong points.

You're part of this!

Aren't you?

Tell me!

Tell me.

The talisman that holds
him inside is mine.

I have been here for ages,

watching...

and guarding against
what is happening now.

He is being released.

I don't understand.

I have come to destroy him.

Now...

and it may be too late.

I will end it.

What ends?

When he goes... I go.

What?

Then why?

Why did you come to me?

Become my lover...

out of a dream.

To touch...

as only mortal men can do.

You are coming to the keep
for interrogation...

now.

Stay here.

Take him across!

No!

Leave him! Leave him!

What's all the sh**ting
in the village, huh?

A civilian being interrogated
resisted arrest.

Another civilian.

The courageous Einsatzkommando
again is victorious.

Woermann.

Woermann!

I will not..!

You will... nothing.

You will... die.

All of us will die.

You're falling apart, Woermann.

You despise our ruthlessness.

But you do not grab history
by the throat,

and write the next 1000 year future

without brutality and courage!

Fairy tales, Kaempffer.

Romantic fairy tales

you tell yourself,

then dress up in black and silver,

so you can look in the mirror
and maybe believe them!

Ein Volk! Ein Reich! Ein Führer!

Poznan...

A year and a half ago,

SS Einsatzkommando ex*cuted men,
women and children.

Children, for god's sake.

Ruthlessness?

Courage?

How many times in this keep...

have you made your bed?

Don't you talk to me
about courage!

Were you with the German
anti-facist fighting us in Spain? No!

Did you stop the Einsatzkommando
Poznan? No!

You have the debilitating
German disease, Woermann:

sentimental talk!

It allows you to feel sensitive,

superior, and yet stay safe,
because you take no action.

Your sentimental suffering
makes me sick!

For once you're right, Kaempffer.

I'm only half a man.

All that we are is coming out,

here in this keep.

The man sees the truth.

And what truth do you see?

What are you discovering
about yourself, Kaempffer, huh?

'I m*rder all these people
therefore I must be powerful!'

And you smash them down
because only that raises you up.

It's a psychotic fantasy to escape

the weakness and disease you
sense at the core of your souls.

You have scooped the most diseased
psyches out of the German gutter.

You have released the foulness
that dwells in all man's minds.

You have infected millions
with your twisted fantasies!

And from the millions
of diseased mentalities

that worship your twisted cross

what monstrosity has been
released on this keep?

Who are you meeting,
Kaempffer,

in the granite corridors
of this keep?

Yourself.

Jesus, protect me!

Protect me!

What are you?

Where do you come from?

Where am I from?

I am...

from you.

Carry it from this place.

Take it out of here.

There's no one left to stop you.

Eva!

I have it!

Take it back.

It belongs to Glaeken Trismegistus...

- ...not Molasar.
- No! This is power!

It's corrupted.

It's changing your soul.

Take it back!

Go away!

No!

No!

Get out of my way!

k*ll her!

And take the talisman
out of here!

Who are you, that I have to
prove myself

to you by k*lling my child?

Obey me!

Or you will return to the
diseased state I found you in.

And I'll slay both of you!

If this is yours as you said,
then you take it out of the keep.

You can't...?

Then this isn't yours,

and the keep is a prison
to contain you.

And you have lied,
exploited, deceived,

and you are the same evil
as outside this place!

So you prove yourself to me!

You take it out of here!

You yourself!

Take it!!

Take it!!

You.

Take your father

out of this place.