01x09 - Hermännchen - 1955/56

[bunniefuu]

In 200 years things never changed
as much in Schabbach...

... as they did in the 10 years
after the w*r.

There, you can really see it in me.
Look how I've changed.

We had an economic miracle
in the Hunsrück...

... the same as everywhere else.

But what Anton, Maria's eldest son,
achieved was a real miracle.

There he's coming back
from captivity.

Maria is amazed and happy
that her favourite son is back.

Anton was always her favourite.

She bought him a camera
and a film camera...

... she took him to Hamburg...

In the w*r he was a camera assistant
in the propaganda division.

He was always interested in optics.

There he married by proxy.

And then he was captured
by the Russians.

Anton walked 6,500 kilometres...

... across Turkey,
Greece and the Tyrol...

... to get back home.

Just imagine how he longed
to get home to the Hunsrück.

And here, he's sitting
in the kitchen back home.

That was the time
Anton was telling everyone...

... he had 27 patents in his head
and was going to build a factory.

We all wondered whether
he'd gone a bit mad in captivity.

This is Anton today.

And that's when "Simon Electric
Detroit, USA, Post Box"...

... came on a visit with his
black chauffeur and big car.

We'd never seen anything like it
in the village before.

There he's saying goodbye to Maria.

There he's sitting in his posh car,
the American.

Just before he left,
his mother Katharina died.

We buried her after he'd gone.

Maria, proud of her boys she was.

That's Ernst, her second son,
who was always keen on flying.

Then, he was shot down over France
in his fighter-plane.

But he is still crazy about flying.

There's Maria again
with the youngest, Little Hermann.

Her b*stard child from Otto.

And in four years, on the meadow
inerited from his grandfather...

... Anton actually built a factory.

"Without any capital"he always said.
But we knew better.

Paul, his father in America,
helped him out with dollars.

Maria's been very lucky
with her sons.

Little Hermann, the youngest,
as soon as he was old enough...

... she sent him
to the school in Simmern...

... so he'd be the first one
in the family to go to university.

LITTLE HERMANN

- Hermann, how fast are we going?
- 40 kph.

- My brother's house.
- It looks like a castle.

They don't stand on ceremony there.
Ernst is all right.

- Can we stay the night there?
- I don't know yet.

My brother, Ernst Simon,
lives here, doesn't he?

Of course.

He lives here, but he is not at home.

Can you tell me where to find him?
We've come a long way.

He's in the forest.

Up there,
where they cut the trees.

See those woods up there?

Right at the top.

The patch
where they're felling timber.

How about that?

Is Herr Simon here?

He just took off with the helicopter.

- When will he be back?
- In ten minutes.

Can we sleep at your place tonight?

- Have you been there?
- They send us up here.

Look things over,
but don't touch anything.

- That surprises you, eh, Hermann?
- Is it yours?

- Of course.
- It must have been expensive.

You bet. I paid out
my whole Nibelungen hoard for it.

- Ready?
- Yes.

That's the last toothpick
for today.

You want to fly with me?

- My bike, my guitar...
- Shove it in, we'll take it.

Ask your brother if we can come, too.

It won't work.

With the weight below,
it's a bit much.

- Are we so heavy?
- No.

Make yourself at home,
Little Hermann.

Flying a helicopter is different
from flying an aeroplane...

...even if the c*ck looks
much the same.

The only thing...

...that's completely different
is this.

But it's all-important.

In ordinary flying,
keeping moving is half the battle.

Here it depends on the rotation,
that's the whole battle.

When the rotation
and pitch are correct...

...you can do what you want.

You can fly backwards,
or stop in mid-flight...

...but you mustrt get out!

When I think of our ancestors...

...dragging timber laboriously
from the forest, metre by metre.

w*r is the father of everything.

That's where we learned
to overcome transport problems.

Transport today is everything.

I know what I'm talking about.

After the w*r
I started with a bicycle.

With the timber underneath
it's like handling raw eggs.

If you're sick,
it'll cost you a crate of beer.

My father-in-law
is the timber king of Trabach.

He owns the sawmills,
the entire forest.

But the Sikorskie is mine.

It's one thing
old Bausch can't interfere with.

Look! Your friends.

- The ground's pretty damp.
- There's a row up there.

They could have let us sleep indoors,
with such a big house.

Not too cold for you?

You're used to it.

- Need anything else, Hermann?
- No.

I'd have liked
to let you sleep indoors...

...but my in-laws are a bit awkward.

Will the gate be open in the morning?

- No, but go down the back steps.
- We don't want to be locked in.

Well, if you've got everything,
I'll go back up.

They're waiting for me.

- Will you go to the fair?
- No, we're too tired. Thanks.

Well, take this anyway, for food.

I wouldn't like to be in his shoes.

He's henpecked;
look at his old woman up there.

They're a bit short
on domestic bliss.

To hell with all families!

It's strange to walk in the fog...

Lonely is every bush and stone...

Nobody knows the other...

Everyone's alone...

The curtain rises, the king enters.

Where are you, my noble damsel?

Here, Father, on the stage.

Why so pale, and yet so blushing?

Who between you legs
has been rushing?

The page! The page!

Grab this arse! Crack his nuts!

All heard with stupefaction...

...the king's nutcrackers
snap into action.

Pity! Pity! I only touched her titty!

Cheers, sweetie!
You sticking with us?

- What horrible stuff.
- It tastes like mothballs.

Another four glasses of mothballs.

What do you call it?
Do you like it?

It's so nice and green.

That rump over there
floats over the dance floor.

I can't keep my eyes off it.

They've never any ideals.

- Old cynic.
- I'm an existentialist.

I exist,
so I'm an existentialist, too.

Now comes the act of liberation.

She only tangos.

I only dance
when I harmonize with the girl.

Want another?

- Ever kissed anyone?
- Of course.

- I bet you haven't.
- I have.

- Let's go outside.
- I don't want to now.

Pay attention.

I always open my mouth
and shut my eyes.

Tongue out...

Is that a torch
in your trouser pocket...

...or do you really love me?

- You're just like all the others.
- What do you mean?

The description
of the eerie landscape...

...on the evening ride
to Seseneim...

...and the dissolving
of the tension...

...into the exultation of love
is enchanting.

The overwhelming experience
of his love for Frederike...

...allows Goethe to find notes
in his verse...

...which we've never heard...

...in the generally sugary poems
of earlier periods.

May I just quote...

...from Welcome and Farewell,
Strasbourg, 1771.

My heart beat fast;
to horse, that's best!

It was no sooner thought than done.

The evening lulled the earth to rest
and in the mountains night was hung.

Already cloaked in fog,
the oak assumed a risen giant's size.

And from the bushes,
darkness broke...

... and peered
with hundred jet-black eyes.

Goethe wrote this poem
in Strasbourg in 1771.

Can anyone tell me the year
that Goethe was born?

1749.

The first great excitement...

...of love for Brigitte von Seseneim
allows him to find, in his verse...

...new notes that up to now
we have not known in him.

Hermann! Must you? You give me
a seizure every time you come.

This is something for you.
Gerhard, move over.

- Boss, we're behind schedule.
- Never mind, let Hermann try it.

He's got the fingers of a real
precision instrument craftsman.

Simon hands, you can see it at once.
It's in his blood.

Right, Fritz? Are you surprised
with your peasant's hands?

Look, what paws.

Look at Hermanrs hands.

It takes three generations
to get fingers like that.

Think so, Herr Simon?

I'll show you.

Hermann, if you feel like it
when you finish school...

...you'll be welcome in the business;
then I'll show you everything.

That won't get rid
of your double chin.

You must keep saying "Hers bottom."

Chick's arse!

Hermann, get out!
You're embarrassing me.

You must go in and see
this function...

...Simon Works guarantee of quality.

Cabaret, Magic show, Talent Contest.

The cabaret's over,
but not the magic.

Come in! There are seats at the back
and some food, too, on the firm.

Ladies and gentlemen,
I'm a magician, too. Look here!

I said this morning we'd get rain.

Herr Simors asked me to say
a few words of introduction.

You've probably guessed
why I've invited you.

Having a good time?

I'll explain in detail.

You know I was born here
in Schabbach...

...and I think anyone
can achieve things...

...if he's aware of the signs
of the times.

The teacher says to the children,
"Make up a sentence with 'dough"'.

And a kid stands up and says,
"Teacher, what do you mean?

"Do you mean dough the baker
makes bread with?

"Or do you mean doe, a wild animal?

"Or do you mean doh
as in 'doh-re-me'?"

And now here's some real 'do-re-me'
from another talented group.

I'd like to introduce
"The Six lmmaculates".

Immaculates lenses, big and small,
the firm of Simon makes them all.

Who's going to cry then,
when one love affair is done?

When on the other corner
stands another one

You say Auf Wiedersehen
and as you drink your wine

You're thinking that the next girl
will be just as fine

God, people are so sentimental...

... they let love
drive them all mental.

Erich, tell me honestly.

Nobody told me I'd be an inventor...

...or manufacturer
of optical instruments.

Yet I've taken a whole new road...

...and broken away
from the Hunsrück traditions.

Because of that,
you can all do it, too.

Above all, the young people
who have their future before them.

Maybe your father or grandfather
has told you that, once...

...the poor Hunsrück farmers
couldn't feed their children.

We had to change.

A few years' apprenticeship with me
and you've quite different hands.

I walked home 5,317 kilometres
from a prisoner of w*r camp...

...and in that time I got these ideas
for my business.

Not everyone's got a father
in America who helps us.

The main thing is
that you choose the right job.

And who does the farm work?

Should we sell out
to your brother-in-law Wiegand?

I was born in Schabbach,
just like you.

Here there are twelve farmers
who work to survive.

The thirteenth is Wiegand,
your brother-in-law.

He's my uncle, not my brother-in-law.

And you know what I think of him.

Conditions are changing everywhere.

It's nothing to do
with Wiegand or me.

I see you're back again.

I've just been outside. The water's
rising, like the tide of prosperity.

Now, ladies and gentlemen,
here's a great song number.

Our much loved and respected
chief secretary, Lotti...

...and from my department,
Klärchen...

...with the assistance of the three
graces from the despatch department.

Casanova, can you hear me?

Casanova...

... comfort me.

I know your heart at night...

... belongs to another.

I know that it lies
when it swears to be true

Our staff, Glasisch.

Anton, can I sing, too?

Shine your light, Glasisch.

Maria's still awake.

Waiting for us with her rolling-pin.

No, it's Little Hermann.

- Still doing homework?
- Yes. Latin.

Think we'll be in tomorrow's paper?

Know what I see?
I'm lying in the bathtub...

...and all around me
it's all lovely, warm pee.

What are you laughing about?

- Never mind,
- It's not for little boys.

He's not so little any more.

- Can't you be quiet? I can't sleep.
- Don't be a killjoy.

Either in or out.

Shut the door.

- What's that?
- Want a drop?

Welcome to the visitor's gap.

- No glasses?
- We're drinking from the bottle.

Someone's here!

- Is your mother still awake?
- I don't know.

We must make it darker here.

Whenever I drink champagne,
I think it's New Year's Eve.

The champagne's got
quite warm from us.

Like pee.

- You didn't spit in this?
- Only a bit.

Every time I lower the bottle,
it squirts.

I just can't drink out of a bottle.

You must leave an air gap.

You can't do it, either.
You and your stupid air gap.

Pieritz always wanted to teach me.

Pieritz. He's a crafty one.

When I was wiping the floor
yesterday...

...he started chatting me up.

But you just can't be angry
with him.

No, you can't.

I've known him for so long.

Comical man.

Klärchen.

I saw behind the stage
where the magician hid his doves.

Where?

I'm not telling. I'm going
to practise doing it with our hens.

He's from...

I think it's Kassel.

No, he's from Düsseldorf,
he's in a cabaret there.

Rubbish, he's on the radio.

He does his tricks on there.

I got a fright just now.

I thought Maria was at the door.

That would have been
a catastrophe.

What would we have done?

I'd have held the door
and not let her in.

Suppose she'd knocked
and asked what we're doing.

I wouldn't have known what to say.

You'd have had to do it.

I'm pretty good with excuses.

Beforehand, I never know what to say,
then suddenly something comes out.

I surprise myself.

But we've got away with it again.

We've been lucky again.

Where are you taking the bedding?

Come on, there's nothing
to be ashamed of.

Now you can go.

You've overslept. It's eight.

It's far too late now.

The trairs gone.

What have you been up to?

What's the matter with you?

You're not your usual self
this morning.

You've had no breakfast.

There's no point now, Hermann.

Marie-Goot, go inside.

It's thirty kilometres to Simmern.
You'll never do it.

Hermann, last night, you know,
you were very lovely.

Go now.

"The moon, shining white..."

Arert you asleep yet?

- What have you there?
- I've written something.

- In your diary?
- Yes. I've translated something.

I thought you were asleep.

- Shall I read it to you?
- Yes, softly.

The white moon in the forest shines.

Round each branch soon
the light entwines

Beneath their cover,
you're my lover.

Lovely. It's French, isn't it?

That's a poem by Verlaine.
I've tried to translate it.

But it's hard to say in German...

...because it has
quite different sounds.

"For K".

For me?

I can feel you, Hermann.

It's lovely.

Don't say anything.

This is our secret.
I'm going now.

I've done it for five minutes.

When I lie here and hold my breath,
I hear a singing in my head...

...as if it were a machine factory,
or an electricity works.

A music from all sounds
at the same time.

It makes me think.
A thought factory.

The electricity works
thinks about itself.

And now it's thinking, I.

Who am I? I am.

Cogito, ergo sum.

Sum, sum, sum,
in me it starts to hum.

You're a philistine.

The philosophy of the future,
of anticipation.

The action is anticip.

But it can also be dissip...

...consumm, confirm, exhort.

And degrad.

If we clarify it,
that's clarific - action.

That's something completely new.

When I really listen to a word,
it becomes empty.

Like w*r, w*r, w*r...

In less than five minutes
the word is dead, finished, gone.

Gym, gym, gym...

Teacher, teacher...

Factory, factory...

The philosophers' gym class,
you pipsqueaks!

There'll be no philosophising here.

- No more w*r!
- What does that mean, Simon?

- Think about it, Herr Öller.
- Don't be cheeky, Simon.

- A healthy mind in a healthy body.
- Quite right.

By the left, march!
Healthy minds make me sick.

Can you imagine Hölderlin
doing gymnastics?

- Don't make me laugh.
- Sport lacks poetry.

If you don't join in,
you'll get no marks. Remember that.

Now he's offended.

He's running bandy.
He always does when he's offended.

Whither then I...

... mortals live on wages and work...

... alternating toil and rest.

Is everything cheerful?

Why then does the horn sleep
only in my breast?

Rose - oh, pure contradiction.

The longing to be nobody's sleep
beneath so many eyelids.

I like that music, Klärchen.

Is that the mambo?

Yes, Marie-Goot, that's the mambo.

Waggle your hips,
you have to look like a rooster.

Look at the way they dance.

Right, Hermann.
That's right.

Mind you don't tread on Lotti's feet.
Girls don't like that.

You should have seen me dance
when I was young.

Now leave Hermann in peace.

He'll learn that soon enough.

He can do the mambo now, and he does
the rumba and samba already.

Our dance teacher says
sambas and rumbas are feminine...

...mambos are masculine.

- Have you learnt your Latin?
- Yes, Mother.

Lotti, now leave him alone...

...or it'll be so late
he won't get up in the morning.

I always wake him now,
since he overslept.

Hermann, study!

You're always so pale
in the mornings, Hermann.

Sleepy, too.

- Don't you like going to school?
- Of course I do.

I'm so proud of you.

You must go to university.

Your father, Otto...

...always wished he could study.

He only learned engineering
at technical school.

You'll be a graduate engineer.

Everybody wants me to be an engineer.
Anton... and you, too.

But my favourite subjects
are German and music.

Can you remember your father,
Hermann?

You sat there.

Yes, you sat there.

And wouldn't give him your hand.

I can still see it.
Don't you remember?

You were four years old
when Otto was here.

Don't you remember?
He loved you so much.

Mother, I was only four.

Give me your Latin book.

What's "to entrust"?

"To request"?

Principal parts?

Was that correct?

Mother, I think that's enough.
Let me go on studying maths.

I learn so many new things with you.

I'd like to be a mouse in your school
and prick up my ears in class.

Mother, you think it's all fun.

You never tell me anything nowadays.

You always used to tell me
all about your lessons.

About South America,
about heredity...

...how things look
on the bottom of the sea.

Remember, Hermann?

Mother,
now we're doing trigonometry...

...if you know what that is.

You're all I've got left.
Don't you understand that?

Yes, I know, Mother.

Let me go on learning.

Will you put your hand in my pocket?

- Do you like that?
- Yes, a lot.

You've got a hole in your pocket.

It's all hot.

I can hardly keep on walking.

Recently I had a dream.

I saw you walking in the meadow
with your trousers open...

...letting it hang out.

Then you moved towards me.

- Did you like what you saw?
- Yes.

I could walk with you
for hours through the night.

If we went
through the village like this...

...you'd let your jacket
cover it a bit...

...and nobody would guess
what I have in my hand.

It's better if we walk in step.

Now we'll walk straight ahead
towards the moon...

...until we're in space.

I'm a fantastic harpist.

You think I can't play with them.

Christiars in a class of his own.

Christian slipped a four page love letter...

...into my book.

You, too?

There were seventeen
spelling mistakes in it.

Frau Gerloff, come over here.
Just listen to that.

I'm putting a stop to that!

Can you play
a bit more harmoniously?

Though, frankly, I'd prefer
you not to play in here any more.

Frightful!

That was a ninth, Frau Gerloff.

You'll find that
in Beethoven, Wagner and Strauss...

...if they mean anything to you.

But that really hurts.

- Art must hurt.
- Not in my house.

But, Aunt Gerda,
where are we to go?

Listen... why don't you come to us?

You can't play there,
but we can listen to records.

What are we to do, Hermann?

I'm going to Schabbach.

Humpty and Dumpty sat on a hill.

What fat thumbs.

I'd like to be with you.
I mean, really close.

I'd like it, too.
But I'm scared I might have a baby.

If your mother noticed anything,
she'd strike me dead.

Do we always
have to think of others?

If we're really careful... do exactly
what I tell you... we'll do it.

Maybe very soon. I promise you.

We've known each other like this
for sixty- three days.

Have a look.

Is that your mother?

And Marie-Goot.

Upside-down.

They're at the cemetery, thank God.

So close.

They can't hear us.

Hermann Hesse, Steppenwolf.

Malaparte, The Skin.

Narcissus and Goldmund.

The Glass Bead Game.

Is that the book you told me about?

Close your eyes.

First I thought you would put
something in my mouth.

You've got a filling there.

That was a good idea
with the telescope.

With it, I can see
the ring around Saturn.

When I see that,
I always hear music.

Will you sing again the song
I wrote for you?

The st*lks stand,
right and left, like walls...

... restricting us to narrow paths

In secret to the nicest lanes

And our summer-brown hands...

... wave gaily
at the many landing-stages...

... that reach out
over light-filled waves

They murmur under small stones there

In fields
where we are scared and hide

Where, in the shadows,
red snails glide

Beside our naked legs so bare

That was beautiful.

I can't hit the note with the snails.

You said you wrote the song for me.

Why did you include such a high note?

At the start
I did write the song for you...

...but then the composition itself
took over.

- Do you understand that?
- Yes.

Kiss it.
Then it will become a prince.

- I'd rather kiss you.
- I'm already a prince.

Come, toad.

You must wait a bit longer.

Someone's coming.

Is Anton there?

I'll get him.

Martha, is Anton here?

What are you doing here?

First you make such a noise outside
and suddenly you're so quiet.

Our flier!

That was a crazy landing. I thought
you'd get caught in the power lines.

It's only the heavy insurance
that's crippling me.

Look at the last two years'
balance sheets.

And here's the assessment
of my commander, Lt. -Colonel Beck.

Ernst, you don't realise
that w*r's over.

Maybe this was possible
in the Air Force...

...where money didn't matter.

The w*r was a bankrupt operation.

Now you're going bankrupt
the same way.

Do you remember, I told you from
the start that this would happen.

The business might prosper...

...if you transported gold
instead of timber.

But even for that
I wouldn't lend you the money.

It's only the two insurance premiums.

Thirty thousands marks
- no problem for you.

I'm more than ever
certain of my idea.

Ernst, you're an adventurer,
and you'll stay one.

I see that,
just as your bank does.

- Wort you even read these?
- No.

Are you staying tonight?

I've nothing left.

And now old Bausch
wants to sue me, too.

But you've got your wife,
or won't she stick to you?

Lotti, you don't know
upper-class women.

When you're doing well...

...then you're somebody.

But now, I'm a pedestrian...

I just can't understand it.

Good thing I never met your wife.

That makes it easier to accept
that it's over between you.

Has your wife
got a horse for riding?

Yes. Why?

That's how I imagined her,
like in the magazines.

That's only an advert, Marie-Goot.

You must go back, Ernst.

Mother, I'm glad I've got away.

And so is she.

You must fight, Ernst.

Now eat, boy.
I made you lentil soup especially.

You always liked it so much.

Remember when you were small?

You were twelve...

...and you ate seven plates
of lentil soup.

- We didn't think it was possible.
- That was long ago.

Stay a few days.

Tomorrow
I've an appointment at the bank.

Then you'll have to go.
Do you hear?

Where did you get it from?
This ability.

Two days ago we were in the quarry
and now it's become a poem.

It was exactly as you write it,
yet it was quite different.

I don't understand it.

I've never seen anything
like this before.

It's to make Thursday
between four and five immortal.

Because you were there.

With holy will, to write something
on a gigantic sheet

In the damp silent mountain,
in a world of corridors we meet

The torch burns out,
the will becomes faint

Your living skin,
a land that's waiting...

... you are

And lay in my hand
lightly on the sheet

Her eyes, look, how quiet she is

Close your eyes.

Klärchen, your skin is much more
beautiful than music or poetry.

I think you were born to be
something special.

I want you.

Recently, when I went to church
with Mother...

...I thought,
if that's sin with us...

...l'll stop believing in God.

Did you confess that?

No. Because it's no sin.

I know that for certain.

Glasisch, how time flies.

Remember going on our bikes
from brook to brook?

We wanted to buy the whole world.

And we didn't even
get into the dance hall.

But it was nice.

With the bell-ringer...

...and the yellow shoes.

When I imagine...

...in two hours
I could fly with Fräulein Klärchen...

...from the despatch department...

...and be in Paris,
on the Promenade...

...in that blaze of lights.

Paris. On the Promenade.

We're too old for that.

No. How time flies.

I've been
in this spot now for eighteen years.

Go away, Lotti!

What are you doing?

Tell me what's up.
You'll k*ll yourself.

I'm pregnant, by Hermann.

I can't have this baby,
as I'm sure you agree.

- Are you quite sure?
- Yes. Now let me get on with it.

- Does Hermann know?
- He mustrt ever know.

- Understand?
- Just don't get excited.

This is no solution. At the most,
you'll only k*ll yourself.

I'm almost twice Hermanrs age...

...and I ought to have married
long ago.

I've no family and nowhere to go.

I'm getting old and wrinkled,
can't you see?

I won't stay here any longer, either.

You were the only thing
that kept me here. You and your love.

Don't say that, Hermann.

I will say it.

I tried Anton again this morning...

...but he said
he no longer needs me at work.

He's always preferred Lotti.

I've been there as long as Lotti,
but she's head secretary now.

I still do all the dirty jobs.

Well, I'm not a member of the family.
That's how things go in the Hunsrück.

I hate that Anton.

When I went
through the village this morning...

...I said goodbye to it all.

The path and the steps
and everything.

- I shart stay here, either.
- You have to take your exams.

That's important for you.

I'm not like the others.

What I want to become...

...I can't do it
in the Hunsrück, anyway.

I know you're different
from the other boys...

...with your music and your poems.

You're my only love, my great love.

God wanted it this way.

Don't say that, Hermann. You'll be
in love with so many other women.

- No.
- Yes, you will.

I'd compare them all with you;
it would be a betrayal.

Klärchen, I'll marry you...

...and we'll go far way
where no one knows us.

I'm eleven years older than you.

- So?
- Some day you'd be ashamed of me.

I'm yours alone.

If we ever lost each other,
I'd live like a monk.

Another woman
would be a sin for me.

You say that now. In a few years
things will look different.

I've lived nine years with you.
I don't want to go away, but I must.

How do you think I'll feel?
I come home and you're not there.

I'll see you everywhere
and you'll be gone.

It's like your poems,
so much sadness in them.

As if you'd sensed it
while writing.

I often sense thing like that.

We can write to each other sometimes.

I'll write you a letter every day.

I'll write, too.
I'll tell you everything I'm doing.

I don't understand
why he's sacking you.

He can't know about us.

There's no other reason.

You work
harder than all the others.

I don't understand it, either.

Just now, when I feel closer to you
than I've ever done before.

Why, in what way?

The sun shines brighter in the sky
when Pieritz with the mail comes by.

Herr Simon, here's the post.

Could I have
that stamp from Pakistan?

I'm too busy now.

That's just how we like it.

Yes, two hundred lines.

What's that?

It looks like dust.

Dust?

How did that get in here?

The air's full of dust.

Cover everything! Stop production!

This is scandalous!

- It's Herr Wiegand.
- My uncle?

Yes, he's experimenting with
insecticides on a large scale...

...l've heard.

This is incredible!

Stop it!

He's going to hear a thing or two!

Who?

That farmers' Führer,
that SS-peasant.

He'll pay for this!

Filthy swine!

Polluting all the Hunsrück air!

Just take it easy, Anton.

Wilfried, are you at home?

No, Uncle Wilfried.
You're not getting away with this.

There are measures required
which will cost millions.

This is quite normal development
in agriculture nowadays, Anton.

We're the last to realise it.

The German chemical industry
leads in this field.

There's no reason why we can export
such products to Peru...

Right, Wilfried!

...and not introduce them here.

And there'll be more, Anton.

Pesticides, fungicides, herbicide...

And the other cides, too!

Yes. And all the fertilizers.

But not at my expense.

Yes, at your expense.
What are you talking about?

I settled here because of the air...

...with a very complex branch
of industry.

Twenty-four people
from our village...

...our village,
that he wants to pollute...

...depend on me for a living...

...and I won't be let their job be
jeopardized by anyone, nor by you...

...while you're raking in state
subsidies paid for by our taxes...

...for your automatic milking plants,
you automatic silos...

...automatic feeding sheds
and automatic manure disposal.

Do you think we pay no taxes?

We have to earn every penny
with our brain and our labour.

You don't give that impression!

That's why you must pay for an
automatic filter system for my roof.

- That's the limit, damn you!
- Calm down.

I can raise the matter
at the next CDU party meeting.

I'm not without influence there.

Maybe something can be done
with public money.

But I can't promise you anything.

While we talk here,
our productiors halted.

Don't get so worked up;
they'll soon be finished down here.

You're always on the right side.

So what? We're always on the right.

Yes, first with the SS, then
as the Regional Farmers' leader...

...then Chairman
of the Farmers' Union...

...then you got into the CDU...

...and now a testing ground
for BASF chemicals.

There's a gulf between us.

Go to the devil!

Hermann, what are you doing here?

Don't just stand around.

- You're disturbing us. Get out.
- You throw out what disturbs you?

Yes, I throw out what disturbs me.
The rubber-stamp stays here.

And you threw out the girl
who used the rubber-stamp, too.

Did she disturb you?

You're all I need today! Everyone's
getting in my hair like flies.

Plutocrat!

Where did you get that expression?

Please leave this office at once.

I have something to dictate to Lotti.

Chucker out!

Hermann, go now.

- Why do you think I sacked Klärchen?
- Because she told me.

She gave notice
and put us in a fine mess.

She left us at the lurch,
didn't she, Lotti?

Yes, Hermann, it's true.

Klärchen wanted to leave.

You're all lying!

You're a pack of liars!
You bourgeois!

What's up with him?

You're crazy. You know
how things like this can end up.

When you're eighteen, get a licence.

Don't touch the canvas,
or the rain will come through.

It's pouring.

It's nice, sitting here in the dry.

I'm so happy you're not angry
with me any more.

I was so afraid...

...that I'd hurt you
and your studies would be disrupted.

But it was something of both of us,
you and me.

If we'd had a baby,
I'd have stuck by you.

I'd have loved it
as much as I love you.

I know you're like that,
but it's better this way.

What if I'd stayed in Schabbach
and everyone had found out?

They'd have persecuted us.

And I thought...

You mustrt suffer, too.
Do you understand that?

I want to share everything with you.
I love you.

- It must have been terrible for you.
- Yes, it was terrible.

The nuns in the hospital
treated me like a criminal.

When I came out of the anaesthetic...

...the sister made me look
into a bowl.

It was lying inside.

And then she said...

..."That's so you can see
what you've done, murderess!"

How vile.

It keeps on raining.

We'll be washed away with the tent.

It's stopped.

Just a few drops from the trees.

Toni, heard the latest?

Bertha, over there, second house,
has had a baby. Know whose?

I don't know either,
but that's why she stayed in Simmern.

I don't believe it.

- Toni, do you like my outfit?
- You're an elegant chap.

I've been waiting like...

- I don't believe it.
- Let's have a look.

No time!

Pick yourself a nice shirt.

- All right, Marie-Goot?
- At my age, you belong in a museum.

- You'll go on for ages yet.
- I'm too old for this work.

- What have you got for us?
- Morning.

A letter for Hermann Simon,
for collection...

...but I thought
I'd deliver it as I'm here.

He often has letters
for collection now.

From Klärchen Sisse?

I must talk to you.

- My train, sir.
- Take the next; this is urgent.

You're intelligent,
but a lazy hound.

When it's critical, you race ahead,
then wait for others to catch you up.

I've checked your marks
in other subjects.

They're up and down.

1, 5... all the time;
that sort of thing annoys a teacher.

We're all human, damn it.

Don't look like that,
be frank with me.

You're one of my favourite pupils;
that's no flattery.

I've simply specialised
in German and music.

- What do you want to be?
- A composer.

- Have you a woman?
- No.

What's going on here?

- Storm brewing.
- Why?

I'll be in in a moment, Mother.

Ernst, what's going on?

Mother, what is it?

- You know what this is about.
- No, what?

That's for me. Who opened it?

We know everything. The woman
is eleven years older than you.

Besides, for what she's done,
she can go to prison.

That's rotten of you. Really rotten.

They're my letters.
You have no right to read them.

The woman
mentioned everything in the letter.

That's enough to prosecute.

You're still a minor, Hermann.

It's a crime against a child.

We'll make sure
you never see her again.

He's not going to wreck
his whole life.

Doctor Keim in Mainz
is a smart lawyer.

With him, we'll be in good hands.

Have you had anything to eat, Anton?

Open the door, Hermann.

I've brought you dinner.

I know it's not your fault.

You can't help it.

Don't do anything silly.

I'll break the door down.

Open at once!
This won't lead anywhere!

I've brought you your dinner,
Hermann.

Hermann, my dear Hermann

Now I'm alone again,
yet I don't feel Ionely or deserted.

I still feel the warmth of your face
in my lap and of your warm hands...

... which give me so much strength
that I feel like shouting aloud...

... and hugging people
half to death...

... so that they have
a little of our love.

When we cuddled together
in that little tent...

... and kept each other warm...

... then there was only you and me
and eternity.

I don't know how long that is...

... but even if it lasts just one day,
that's fine.

Isn't it crazy? I'm pretty old now
and grown up.

I know you'll laugh
when you read this...

... but I've remained a little girl.

And now there's you in the world...

... and nothing bad
can happen to me again.

In that lovely long time
with you at home...

... everything had to happen secretly.

Now it's all so simple and clear
I'm no longer afraid.

We mustrt be sad any more and cry,
will you promise me that?

At your mother's,
from whom we hid our love...

... our baby couldn't have lived,
either, I'm quite sure of that.

But in a few years,
if we still love each other...

... then we'll have a child,
or two, or three, or ten.

Hermann, I love you.
For always. Your Klärchen.

Ernst, now come over and eat
at the table, like the others.

Anton.
An autocratic ruler, six letters.

Kindly shut your trap!

Tyrant.

Despot fits, too.

You've given your family
a perfect example...

...of how to conduct one's life.

In a boom period you've gone broke.
Quite an achievement.

No wonder your wife's divorcing you.

I couldn't get him
to go to school this morning.

I kept begging him to go.

He should have gone. At least there
he'd get some peace from you.

Ernst...

...you talk to him.

- He won't listen to me any more.
- Me?

I'm supposed to speak to him?

If you drop the prosecution.

Only then.

We're waiting.

They're checking at the factory
whether she's done anything else.

With such a person,
anything's possible.

Besides, who introduced her
into this house?

Just look at Anton.

Look at him closely.

Eyes popping, face twitching...

...hands trembling.

He's beside himself.

Anton, just between brothers...

...you're not plain jealous, are you?

Just imagine.

I've given him all my love.

No wonder he wouldn't wake up
in the mornings.

The bad marks
he brought home from school.

Why he was always so pale.

And I thought the boy was ill.
You can't imagine.

- Mother, it won't go on like this.
- I hope not.

Depend on me.

We've got things in hand, Mother.

I've locked the door again.

I've locked the door again.

It worked.

FOR HERMANN

I advise you to destroy it
after you've read it...

...burn it, don't take it home.

If you're careful, you can go on
getting your post through me. O.K.?

I'm so excited that we'll see
each other on New Year's Eve.

Whatever happens,
you'll find me on 31st December...

... at 8.05 pm at Boppard Station,
and I'll wait there for you.

But please be careful
nothing happens to you on the way.

You mustrt write
to me here so often...

... as the family I work for here
in Königswinter is very nosey.

Sometimes I think the doctor's wife
goes through my things.

You're right when you say that love
and suffering lie so close together.

Your Klärchen.

Hermann, what are you doing?
You haven't a driving licence.

Come and celebrate New Year with me?

I thought it was the Chancellor!
That's Antors car.

- You're beautiful.
- For you.

This business with the car...

Know what I've brought you?

Your favourite cake.

What else?

Wine...

...and eggnog.

We're really living it up.

Do you know
what I'd like to do tonight?

We should go to
a real New Year's Eve ball.

Yes, we'll do that.

Wait here for me. I'll ask.

It's no good here, either.

I saw.
The way they've dressed up.

Don't be cross.
After all, we're together.

What now?

They can shove
their New Year's Ball.

How lovely.

I've never seen that
in all my life.

A Chinese invention.

The Chinese invented fireworks?

I love you.

Did you make a wish?

If you kiss at midnight,
you can make a wish.

- What?
- I'm not saying.

Or it won't come true.

- I'll tell mine.
- Don't.

I have the feeling
I'm not at home anywhere.

I feel it now especially,
with you gone.

But it can't be otherwise.

So sated, so stuffed with food...

...and so lacking in ideals
as they are at home.

Do you think
your mother no longer loves you?

Oh, her...

But she loved you so much.
I remember how she doted on you.

All the things she did when there was
nothing to be had, after the w*r.

Do you know what my mother is?

She's one of the mass.

I'm still trying to understand her.

She admires Anton,
because he's got a factory...

...because he feels a father's
responsibility towards me.

But my father is dead.

I'm not related to them at all.

I was put into their nest
like a cuckoo.

And because they have no ideals,
they're mass people.

The masses cry out for a leader.

They'll soon see once again
where that gets them.

We must eat something...

...or we'll become sad
and we won't love each other.

Maybe all this
is the beginning of the end.

Maybe the atomic mushroom
will destroy all of us.

Do you sometimes think
about w*r, too?

Yes, I'm often scared about it.

But we two are an island,
aren't we?

The time goes so quickly.
It's almost eight.

Happy New Year!

Before I say goodbye,
I must give you something.

I've had it with me,
but I didn't want any sadness...

...in our short time together.

- It's as if we'll never meet again.
- Yes.

Read the letter when I'm gone.
It's from your mother and brother.

When you read it,
you'll know what to think.

I'm never going back to Königswinter,
I've been sacked there.

You mustrt come after me.

Wait here until I've gone,
then turn around and drive home.

- Promise?
- Yes.

Dear Klara Sisse

You are an adult...

... and we needrt explain what
our laws provide for in your case.

What you have done with our boy,
who is a minor, is a crime.

We are watching every step you take.

If you should ever again
dare to pester Hermann...

... with your filthy mind...

... we'll have you prosecuted.

We'll destroy you.

We've given
full details to the family...

... whose nursemaid you are.

They ought to know
whom they're sheltering.

Doctor Bongart appreciates
the danger to his children.

He's dismissing you
as from 1st January 1956.

Something else.

Nothing on earth will allow you
ever to see Hermann again.

All your letters will be delivered
to us. We've taken care of that.

And if you try any tricks,
don't forget you could go to prison.

After years of trust...

... you have disgracefully abused,
we now know you.

You're a wh...

Hermann, too, sees that
and has promised to forget you.

Anton Simon,
Simon Optical Works. Schabbach.

When Hermann was eighteen,
he left the village for ever.

He studied music in various capitals
and became a composer.

LITTLE HERMANN