Amnesia (2015) Movie Script
1
Martha!
The judges want you in Berlin.
They want you or your death certificate.
Tell them I'm dead.
- Can't I just sign something?
- No.
The court requires your presence.
So tell them I'm too old to travel
and they have to come here.
You're impossible!
We have to sell the Berlin property.
Our cousins need the money
for their retirement.
I just don't want to deal with this now.
You never want to deal with anything!
Fine. Carry on not facing up to your life.
I've survived pretty well this way,
you know.
Good-bye, Martha.
Oh, no. Otto, I told you it's no.
- Oh.
- I'm sorry...
- Oh, no, no, no.
- Please, no... No German.
Tienes... I don't know...
Uh, hielo? Ice?
Listen, I don't speak German,
you don't speak Spanish,
so let's just speak English.
Oh, my God! What's happening?
- I burnt myself.
- Come in.
Go ahead.
- I have something better than ice.
- Okay.
Aloe vera.
Okay. Great, but ice is totally fine.
Does it hurt?
No. No, you go ahead.
So, no electricity down here?
I have it up there.
I never needed it.
I'm your new neighbor.
You know, I was setting up my music stuff,
and I soldered the cables so fast,
I also soldered part of my hand.
- You're not English, huh?
- No. I'm from Berlin.
I came over a couple of weeks ago.
And you? You're not Spanish.
No.
But I didn't arrive a couple of weeks ago.
I heard Ibiza is the place for new music.
No rules, clubs opening up all the time.
If that's true, it's my dream.
You're a musician?
A long time ago.
- Professionally?
- Uh, no. My mother was.
No, please, don't touch it.
You could say it's a very shy cello.
It hasn't played for a long time.
- You're okay?
- Yeah. I'm fine.
Jo. My name's Jo.
Martha.
- So, thank you, Martha.
- You're welcome.
- It's okay?
- Yeah. Thank you.
- Good night.
- Good night.
Hello, Jo?
Hello? Martha?
Hey.
Oh!
- What's that?
- I didn't want to wake you.
But I thought after a few days your burn
would do well with my special cure.
It's just a bottle of calendula
and an aloe vera plant.
That's wonderful. Thank you.
Oh, no, I'll let you sleep.
- I have to go into town anyway.
- I have to get to town too.
I... I can give you a ride.
Oh. In that?
Well, yes.
I don't ride those.
Why not?
So, what's your thing with VWs?
They are all over the place.
But that's the point.
Imagine Hitler would have
outlived his Reich.
The car's success under his sponsorship,
around the world,
would have made him
the inventor of the economic miracle.
Oh.
The world is full of Hitler's Beetles.
That is like he had been forgiven
by all those millions of drivers.
Come on, Martha.
Ancient history. The war was 50 years ago.
Martha?
Hello?
Martha?
Hello!
Martha!
- Any catches today?
- Not much!
If you come over by those rocks,
you can come over and help me.
Hmm.
You know,
it's always been my big, dark secret,
but... I'm not a very good swimmer.
- What?
- Yeah.
I never learned.
I only skipped classes in school
when we went to the pool.
You're okay.
- So you said you're not a good swimmer?
- Yeah.
That's easily fixed, hmm?
Okay. Yeah! Oh...
Come on.
Okay. Come on. Stop, stop!
That's enough. I take your point, okay?
- Let's forget about... Aaah!
- Whoo-hoo-hoo!
Oh, my God!
You need some help?
Never trust a woman in a boat.
Thank you.
Now, here I know what I'm doing.
Give me one of those hooks.
I'm getting hungry too now.
Oh! No bandage?
Uh, yeah.
It took just two weeks.
Your special remedy is really something.
My grandfather taught me when I was a kid.
Whenever we went on a trip,
he'd tell me these great stories.
And he always brought an extra present,
like a record or a book.
With all those records,
I got the bug, you know?
Okay, let's find out.
And now we wait.
Ah. Ah!
I got one! Ah!
Yeah.
Yes!
- Lunchtime.
- Lunchtime!
So, you know, this fish would be perfect
with some white wine.
I brought over some Riesling from my home.
I'll go get us a bottle.
No, that's fine. I don't...
I only drink when it's dark.
Really?
I think you should break your rule.
Promise, it's worth it.
And that fish also needs
some lemon verbena.
There are some growing wild on a path
here. I'll go get them both, yeah?
You really don't need my help, huh?
Something else my grandfather taught me.
To music.
Yeah. To life.
I love it.
- You like it?
- Mm-hmm.
When I've set it up,
I'd like to show you my studio,
so you can see how it all works.
And, if you ever accepted, I would love
to use some of your own playing
- on a new composition.
- Oh, no.
My playing days are very much in the past.
I'm sure that's my loss.
Rudolfo.
- Another deejay?
- And Clarissa.
Rudolfo's the one who encouraged me
to come over to Ibiza.
He's also my manager. I forgot
we were meant to see each other today.
- Do you mind if he comes in?
- No, of course not.
It's just too bad
he is too late for lunch.
Hello, Clarchen.
So, you are Rudolfo, I believe.
Well, yes. Buenos das.
English is fine.
- Would you care for some coffee?
- Yeah, yeah.
Thank you.
- What's going on?
- What do you mean?
You move into a new house and...
you abandon me for a woman!
What are you on about?
You don't notice the girls
who look at you in the clubs.
But with the locals... you're ruthless.
I'm impressed.
You're crazy!
She's showing me the island.
I'm showing her my music.
Soon she'll show you her grandchildren.
I love spending time with her.
Sounds like love.
Anyway! Listen up.
Before you retire on me, listen to this.
The hot new club in Ibiza's old town
have agreed to take us on
- for a trial next week.
- No!
The Amnesia manager goes there every
Thursday, and that's when we're playing!
Great!
You know, Amnesia's the big one.
If we succeed, it would give me more time
to compose my own stuff, you know?
Ah, Jo, you're the true artist,
putting the rest of us into shame.
No, really, Martha,
I just want to become a famous deejay.
My dreams involve huge mixing decks,
massive crowds and strings
of screaming fans, preferably women.
I'm sorry.
Don't be sorry.
If you're going to have a dream,
you should at least believe in it.
Who cares what everybody else thinks?
Ah, it's Clarissa.
She's a little impatient.
Hi there.
- Are you a deejay too?
- No, she's our muse.
Your muse?
You leave your muse waiting in a car?
Exactly.
- Have some yourself before you go.
- Thank you.
Okay, we should make a move.
I don't want it to be
some German invasion all of a sudden.
Come on. Let's get out of here.
- Thank you so much.
- Lovely to meet you.
- Thank you.
- Bye. Good-bye.
Martha, lunch was wonderful. Um...
Rudolfo thinks
I spend too much time with you.
He should come fishing with us next time.
Tell him he's invited.
I don't want him to come.
- Martha, I don't know how to say it.
- Jo...
Let's just not talk about it.
You're right. I know.
Okay, bye.
What a beautiful day.
Look at that.
I spend hours with my tomatoes...
and they never come close
to anything as sublime.
You know, I really don't do anything.
Things just seem to like it here with me.
- I'm so happy you brought that wine.
- Oh, yes, you taste it?
Listen, listen, let me tell you.
There's really something different
about you, Martha.
- I doubt that.
- No, no, no.
There's something different.
You look... sparkling.
And I'm not just trying to charm you.
So, where have you been?
- Working like crazy. Oh, yeah!
- Oh! Working?
You don't believe me?
Jo! Come in.
You're just in time
to meet an old friend of mine.
This is Jo Gellert, a new friend.
And this is Sabater,
my favorite Catalan on this island
and my secret source of wine.
- Welcome to Ibiza, Mr. Gellert.
- Hello.
Are you just over for a visit?
No, I'm here to stay.
I live just up the road.
You know,
this little house just up the hills
where this English couple lived there
a while ago?
- Did you bring your music?
- Yeah.
I got a tape with a playlist
I'm thinking about for...
for a big club, Ku.
Oh, you are a deejay, Mr. Gellert?
In my early days,
but yes, that's what I do.
Well, I should be going.
Good luck with the music.
Thank you.
Bye.
Keep sparkling, Martha.
He has been living here forever.
So let's just listen to it.
Yeah.
Ah, Non!
- S, s!
- No!
This is the other side of Cap Non
we see from my house.
And you have a very nice view,
as you can see.
It's very quiet, very, very quiet.
It's delightful.
Why, we love it already.
Oh, I didn't know you were here,
Ms., uh... Ms. Sagell, right?
I'm always here.
Uh, well, these are Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
They are very interested in the house.
The house?
Yes.
Seor Laguna hasn't contacted you?
Seor Laguna? But who are you?
Oh, oh, I am sorry.
I am Seor Costa from Ibiza Estate Agency.
Well, this is a bit embarrassing.
I guess Laguna is getting old.
His son Pepe should have managed this.
Well, uh, Ms. Sagell, Seor Laguna has
put the house up for sale,
and Mr. and Mrs. Smith here,
they are very interested.
Oh, it's just charming!
Do you think we could possibly,
you know, take a peek inside?
A peek ins...?
No, I'm afraid you can't,
not at this moment.
Nobody told me the house was for sale.
I'm terribly sorry.
Talk to the son, Pepe.
He's taken charge of it all now.
But, please, please do it
as soon as possible.
We have already
a lot of interest in the property.
No kidding. I will call Pepe.
I'm sorry.
I eat these grapes all day long!
Mmm.
When I moved in,
the same grapes grew by the door.
Right. Old Laguna's house.
You really transformed that house!
I kept it like it was.
Laguna's son has put it up for sale.
Wow. I'd forgotten you were renting.
I should have bought it years ago.
I don't know what to do.
You told me your father left you
a property in the Black Forest.
Yes, but it's complicated.
I'd have to go to Germany.
So, what's the problem?
Hi, Mara, how are you?
Last year, on November 9, 1989,
the borders
between East and West disappeared.
They think it'll be the Third Reich again.
A process of reconciliation has started,
reuniting cities and people long separated
by ideology and politics.
Hey, Jo, you've got a phone call.
Come, take inside.
Are you done?
Let's go.
- What's with you?
- I'll tell you later.
Ten minutes to pack our bags
and catch the ferry!
What?
What's happening?
Jo?
Jo!
Jo!
I brought you some wine from Sabater.
It's much better than your stuff.
Mmm, fantastic.
Jo?
- Oh.
- Oh, hello!
- It's you again.
- Hello, Ms. Sagell.
I knocked, but there was nobody
inside so... so we decided to...
Mr. Petrov wanted to see the view
he would have from the terrace.
It's-It's fabulous! Mind-blowing!
Blows my mind every day.
But, Seor Costa,
it's really not a convenient moment.
- Hey.
- Hey!
I'm so glad to see you.
Well, me too.
You know, I can't find any trace
of that herb you brought me a while back.
It-It gave the nicest taste to the fish.
Where did you find it?
- Actually, it grows closer to my house.
- Ah.
I can show you. Come with me.
Hey.
So, how has it been going?
I haven't seen you for a while.
- I thought you might have left for good.
- No.
I had to leave all of a sudden.
A club in Formentera called us up.
They wanted us to play that night.
Their deejays canceled on them,
and they heard about us.
- I would never leave without telling you.
- Good.
- So, Formentera was great, wasn't it?
- Kind of.
I mean, it's great that they asked us,
but in a way it was horrible too.
The manager hated our own stuff
so he forced us to play
the same old crap every night.
But there will always be resistance
to the unknown.
You just have
to break the rules creatively.
Mix some new tunes with your favorites
and you will see if people keep dancing.
If they do,
the managers can't say anything.
Makes a lot of sense.
You haven't seen my studio yet, right?
- Want to take a look?
- See your...? Sure, of course, yes.
Welcome to the world of Deejay Gello,
where the future of music will be made.
This is it, my studio.
Usually I work with these. So, I promise
you won't hear a thing down at your house.
Ah.
- Music created in absolute silence?
- Mm-hmm.
Just like that silent cello of yours.
It's good, huh?
So, what I basically do is,
I record sounds and then I loop them.
It's called looping.
You could put anything in a loop.
For example, this...
It's a bird I recorded the other night.
Oh, I heard it too.
I can...
So, you are looping musics?
Looping is like putting different layers
on top of each other,
or connecting rings, you know?
Can I have a loop?
Yeah! Um...
You know what?
Let's make a whole new composition.
Oh!
So.
- You hold the microphone.
- Mm-hmm.
And we record something.
Get some water...
Okay.
So.
Ah.
I like that one.
Okay. This comes here...
Yeah.
Maybe something different...
Here.
Okay.
Yeah. Let's give it a little effect.
Uh-huh.
So, how we put them together and when
depends on the emotion you're after.
You know,
it's all about how it makes you feel.
So let's listen to it.
Ah?
Yeah. I knew you'd be a natural.
I'm a bit of a nerd, but I don't care.
Soon as I got melodies on my mind...
everything else fades away.
Mm-hmm.
I have melodies in my mind too.
I thought they were all gone...
from a long time ago.
But you brought them back.
Ah.
It's Rudolfo.
He was very impressed with you last time.
You gave him a great justification being
an unashamed glory hunter.
Oh, I'm sorry!
- Hey.
- Hello! Lovely to see you again, Martha.
- Hi!
- Everything okay?
Better than that.
- We've got the gig at Amnesia.
- What? Are you serious?
Something about Amnesia?
Yeah, for real!
One of the Amnesia managers was
in Formentera
and he heard us play on Thursday night.
- He loved it.
- Oh!
I met the guy this morning
and he gave me this. Down payment.
No need to think about heading home now.
This is so great.
One month from tonight and we're on.
But, Jo, we must give them what they want.
None of your original stuff,
especially your special mixes.
- Yeah, I know.
- Okay?
Otherwise they'll just replace us.
Feels good selling your soul to the devil!
There's enough to treat your girlfriend
to a really nice dinner.
So I bring a few samplers for tomorrow?
- Okay.
- You two have fun.
Bye, Martha!
- Bye!
- See you very soon.
- That's great news, isn't it?
- It's unbelievable.
So what about those herbs?
Are they over there?
Ah, yeah, right.
Come on. Let's get you some.
- On the island, we call it hierba luisa.
- Mm-hmm.
I hope we can enjoy them together.
- There you go.
- Thank you.
So much better than
taking me out to a really nice dinner.
What?
Taking me...? Didn't Rudolfo say that?
Martha?
You're understanding German now?
You've been listening
to our conversations...
But why?
I mean, what are we playing at,
talking in English?
- Isn't this easier?
- No, it's not much easier.
But why trick me like that?
It was not a trick, just...
Let's leave it, yeah?
I can't leave it.
This isn't some small detail.
Are your parents from Germany?
Did you live there?
Just leave it.
I left a long time ago,
and I never wanted to go back
and speak that language
or see that country.
And drive the cars and drink the wine...
- Are you Jewish?
- No.
Exactly the opposite.
I'm German from the beginning of Germany.
So, how come you're even talking to me?
I'm surprised you let all those German
composers get near your LP player.
No, no. That's not the same thing.
But you talk to me
about how to beat the rules,
and you got your own set
stacked like a scaffolding.
And I'm obviously
letting my guard down here.
Jo?
Jo?
Oh.
I didn't want you going without them.
Thank you. Come in.
You know best what to do with them.
But I haven't a clue about you.
It's crazy.
You could have walked past them
every day since you've been here.
I guess we can be blind to things
we think we know so well.
I will be deejay for tonight.
Any special requests?
Anything chilled out.
Aaah!
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Let me show you something.
Come here. Sit down.
Very impressive, yeah.
No, no, no, mine is much better. Look.
I'd forgotten how fun it was doing this.
Were I a little bird
Had I two little wings
I'd fly to you
But since it cannot be
But since it cannot be
I'll stay here alone
Did he teach you to play?
Yes.
He was my teacher. His name was Alex.
It was his cello.
He was Jewish.
We left Germany with my mother
to live in Zurich.
In 1936. I was 16.
What did you know then?
Did you know about the camps?
No.
Martha?
One day I was at the border with Alex.
At times he dared to be homesick.
We saw a bus there.
It was full of children.
It was in 1944, and I didn't know
that Himmler had exchanged those children
from the camps with Switzerland.
When the bus stopped...
some nurses ran towards it.
I knew all the children were
in Switzerland, saved.
But I was still terrified.
Where did they come from
that they looked so ill?
They were...
so pale, so thin...
so frail. It was awful.
The nurses went inside the bus
with water and bread.
Some children cried,
others held their arms out,
like towards their mothers.
Those who ate couldn't keep food down.
They were vomiting...
They were trembling...
How could I ever forget that?
Should I have forced myself to forget it?
Suddenly next to me, the voice...
of Alex.
He was talking, but I couldn't answer him.
He took his cello,
sat by the Rhine and played.
It was his way of fighting
what was happening on the other side.
What happened to him?
One day he had to sneak into France
to see his mother.
I never saw him again.
He was probably one of the last
to die in the camps.
Do you think about him a lot?
I was so young.
It was 50 years ago.
You wonder why I behave like this
since I wasn't even a victim?
No.
But in '45...
when I learned about the camps...
how could I ever speak
that Nazi language again?
I loved him very much.
I actually had
the most terrible crush on him.
I really picked the wrong moment
to fall in love.
So, you never went back
to Germany after Switzerland?
Never spoke the language again?
No.
Not until now, with you.
And I really can't believe how nice it is.
I feel like I'm breaking a promise,
my own guiding principle.
When I made this decision,
it felt like I had no other choice.
But now I don't know what to think.
I felt... I owed it to the victims
to be mad for eternity,
- but now, talking to you...
- Martha.
How would that have helped,
being mad forever at 16?
Tell me.
What did your parents tell you
about the war?
Not that much, really.
I mean, Dad died when I was young,
so it was just Mom and Grandpa.
He has stories, some great ones.
I loved listening to them.
But really, Martha,
I learned everything about war in school.
Every kid in Germany learns
about it over and over again.
And you believed everything they told you?
I read about it.
And I thought about it for myself.
I tried to understand.
What do you want me to say?
Come on, Martha, I didn't live through it.
And my mom grew up in a shattered country.
They all had to move on.
And for my generation,
if we wanted to go forward,
we kind of had to stop talking about it.
Yeah.
That's exactly the reason why
I never wanted to go back.
Everything just brushed under the carpet.
So never going back means
you dealt with it so much better?
I'm not so sure.
Maybe it left you free
never to confront it.
Germany still exists, and it has moved on.
My mother stuck it out.
She got her head down.
And whatever I think of her,
I can see she has a right
to be proud of all that work.
So you're proud of your mother?
That's good.
Yeah. I'm a fan of her job.
She's a good doctor.
Yeah. Pride and hard work
and rebuilding the nation.
It's a good way of, uh, pouring concrete
into horrific truth, yeah?
And never setting a foot
in the country again,
never speaking the language...
never driving the cars, drinking the wine?
How unfair I am.
How stubborn.
I didn't learn a thing.
Staying mad for eternity,
that was the only thing
I could do to fight it.
- Non?
- S, s!
In the red sunset glow.
We have through sorrow and joy
gone hand in hand.
From our wanderings,
let's now rest in this quiet land.
Around us the valleys bow.
As the sun goes down...
two larks soar upwards...
dreamily into the light air.
Come close and let them fly.
Soon it will be time for sleep.
Let's not lose our way in this solitude.
O vast, tranquil peace,
so deep in the red sunset glow!
How weary we are of wandering...
Is this perhaps death?
Martha...
Uh...
I heard you playing your cello.
It was beautiful.
But... I couldn't let it go like that.
- I went down to your house and...
- I didn't hear you knock.
No. I didn't knock.
Hmm.
See what you've started?
And that's not all the news.
Last night my mom called me and
she's thinking of coming over next month.
That's nice, isn't it?
Not exactly.
She'll want to convince me to return home.
She says I can't leave Germany now.
It's changing.
She thinks this is the big moment,
and if I don't come home,
a kid from the East will take my place.
She even brings Grandpa as a backup.
Your grandfather's coming too?
Three different generations of Germans
turning up on your doorstep all at once.
Hmm.
- Hello.
- Hello.
- So nice to meet you.
- Hello, Ms. Sagell.
Hello, Ms. Sagell.
I hear you have been
looking after my grandson!
Oh, he is doing fine by himself.
He just picked the wrong car to drive.
Yeah. Me and that damn Hitler vehicle.
So, thank you for inviting us
in your very charming home.
Oh, you're more than welcome.
- But, please, call me Martha.
- Thank you.
All this sea air! Wonderful.
But at least we will be crossing
this great sea ourselves in a few days.
A 30-minutes' crossing
to Formentera.
Five days, but without Jo, mmm?
The big Amnesia gig is coming up.
A career for my son in amnesia!
Elfriede, we are very proud, remember?
Big crowds coming to listen to Jo's music.
Yeah! There are so many
non-workers to entertain on this island.
- Tourists, Mom.
- Mm-hmm.
- So, Martha...
- Many peoples come here
just to have a good time.
- How long have you been living here?
- Oh, long enough not to be a tourist.
I guess I am what you would call
a non-worker.
Sorry.
So, look.
There is no way...
to complete a paella without this.
Ah.
I've no idea what this says,
but I trust you completely.
It's always been my policy to put
myself totally in the hands of women.
It's from Sabater.
- Sabater is your husband?
- Oh, no, no way.
He's just an old friend
and my wine dealer.
But, he did ask me once.
Oh, he did?
Sit down, wherever you like.
I hate table formalities.
Here we go.
Mmm!
May I?
Thank you. Oh!
Delicious.
Mmm. Exotic!
Yeah, must be that secret ingredient
I discovered recently.
So, Martha...
you never get scared here?
- So alone.
- Alone?
- Yeah.
- With all this sea around me?
Well, it's not exactly company.
I just imagine in the middle of winter,
with storms,
and the lights are going out...
Oh, Mom. You really would hate
living in this place.
- There's no electricity.
- No electricity?
No. There's only natural light
and petrol lamps when it's dark.
Oh!
It's a little bit
like going back to wartime.
When the American bombers left,
I can remember
we were without electricity,
without water for weeks, right, Dad?
Yeah. Weird stories.
Nobody talks as much
about the war as the Germans...
but, uh, I hear nobody talk
about Oradour or Lidice.
- Oradour?
- Mm-hmm.
We didn't have that at school.
I was six years old
when the Russians swarmed in.
We were punished hard enough.
Dad, tell.
What do you want me to say?
Tell Martha
about some of your experiences.
When the Russians arrived,
they were so... mad at us.
- But not at you.
- No!
All I had to do was to supervise
some girls at the factory camp.
What kind of camp exactly?
You know...
my bad ear kept me out of the military,
so they made me a reserve policeman,
and I was stationed at the...
At the store of an ordnance camp.
Ordnance factory. That's all.
- I don't think I want to hear more.
- He's a bit embarrassed.
He was one of the good ones, you know?
He behaved well.
You're getting so modest these days.
It's just, it's so long ago.
You know what I mean, Martha. Huh?
They had a camp
for eastern workers at the factory.
Please, not-not this old story again.
And it's always different
each time he tells it.
I bet.
One day, very, uh, small
and frail Jewish girls arrived.
They'd brought them over
from the east because...
their tiny fingers were so agile,
they could adjust the detonators.
And I had to supervise these girls.
That's all.
Because of their diligence, the Jews
were very precious for the factory.
They were even allowed
to grow their hair again.
They got rubber boots too, while all the
others had to drag around in clogs.
There we go. Last time I heard this story,
the girls were allowed straw shoes.
- Today it's rubber boots.
- And they got extra meals.
I mean, they got a can
of sardines each week.
One whole can each!
- And you had to supervise them?
- Oh.
One was called Wasilissa, from Moscow.
Another had studied
and spoke German perfectly.
She know... She knew Schiller
and Goethe and Karl Marx!
She always said Gjotte, Gjotte
instead of Goethe.
She had a book by Tolstoy,
a dual translation with Russian
on one side of the page,
and German on the other.
I-I even learnt a Russian poem back then.
Wasn't it Lermontov? Lermontov?
Oh, yeah.
I didn't mean for him
to give us the unabridged version.
I still remember all their names:
Wasilissa, Nadia from Gorky...
two Olgas from Ukraine,
the Polish girl, Danuta...
Yeah. And, uh, Katiza from Croatia,
who they called Blanka, the silly one,
because she was Catholic
but had pretended to be Jewish.
And two very quiet girls from Berlin.
Those two were called Ilse and Jutta.
And you know
what I did against the whole situation?
One night I brought a flask
of 4711 eau de cologne
so each girl could rub a droplet
behind her ear.
It meant they could... they could
rest down their heads on the pillow
with a pleasant smell
for the first time in ages.
And they all chatted
and told love stories to each other.
What happened to them?
What happened to the Jewish girls?
And then, uh...
Tell us the rest of the story, Bruno.
Hey.
- You speak German?
- You're German?
What happened to the other girls?
Why are we bothering to speak English?
You speak German fluently.
I don't understand any of this.
- This is so strange...
- Yeah.
The girls...
What happened to them?
We had to evacuate them
like all the prisoners.
I supervised them with the SS
during those long, hard days of walking.
The ones who were too weak
to go on were shot.
They killed the weakest all the time.
My girls had food.
At one point, in a barn...
in the middle of the countryside...
I escaped with the girls.
Nobody noticed us
with all those dead prisoners.
- And you stayed with them?
- Yes.
Of course!
They were my responsibility.
Did you see them again afterwards?
Yes.
The Russians arrived soon after.
They were so happy to see the girls.
They drank.
They sang and danced
and played the accordion.
Then they raped Ilse and Jutta
because they were German.
Believe me. This is the truth.
I believe you, but the rest of the story?
What happened before the Russians came?
The rest of the story is for another time.
It was the end.
The officers made me believe...
I had their respect and I had power.
But... they were playing with me.
They ordered me to kill one of the girls.
I did not have to do it.
I was not a soldier.
Jew!
As I refused to shoot...
they did it themselves.
Jo...
Jo...
I wanted so much...
Let go.
Is that it?
Hmm? Is that it?
I wanted so much
for this story to be different.
So I invented different versions.
I didn't protect them.
None of the Jewish girls survived.
The machine kept going
and I couldn't stop it.
I stood there and watched.
I should have put myself...
in front of their guns and died.
You had me to look after.
Thank you for the paella.
Jo?
Hello?
Jo didn't come to our hotel.
I'm looking for my son,
but he is not here.
He was meeting Rudolfo this morning.
We were meant to say good-bye
before going to Formentera.
Martha, I'm sorry for my father.
I thought there were things
he kept from us, but...
not that.
How can you carry on
not knowing exactly what happened?
Well, excuse me for voluntary amnesia.
Excuse me for not wanting to find out
every single disgusting thing
that anyone ever did
so I would have no will to do anything.
So I stayed,
and in your eyes
that makes me some accomplice
to absolutely everything terrible
whatever happened in the country.
You don't have
to be the one pulling the trigger
to keep the killing machine going.
We learned that much last night.
You keep thinking that.
You keep calling us all Nazis
just because we didn't lead
our own personal
anti-German rebellion all our lives.
I do not want to wallow in catastrophe.
I've got better things to do.
Why do you think I became a doctor?
I had to be useful in a country
that needed rebuilding...
that anyone was so damn suspicious of.
And I had to explain
why Hitler was Hitler to strangers.
- So, I was a little busy.
- Well, good for you.
You ran away. That's all you did.
Have you ever thought what good it did?
I mean,
apart from your own clear conscience?
You gave up your life in Germany for what?
Your action wasn't a strategy.
It was a selfish choice by a selfish kid.
You call everyone
who didn't resist the machine a coward.
You are a coward...
the kind who lives
in their bubble of righteousness,
thinking they're pure as an angel.
Please, don't overstate it.
I know I'm your bad conscience,
but that's not my problem.
Jo!
You're here?
Did you see your family
before they left for Formentera?
I just couldn't face them.
- You're mad at them?
- No.
I just need some space.
Everything's changed now.
I'm really sorry
it all came out like that.
You're close to your grandfather,
and what he said shouldn't change that.
How can't it change that?
Everything's different now.
I woke up this morning,
and it was like
when you come out of some dream.
You take a minute
to get a grip on reality,
but I just couldn't get hold of that
reality, because it's a new one now.
When you hear something that's been
like a favorite bedtime story for so long,
but then the ending suddenly changes,
there's no going back.
And hearing it with you there
took on even more weight.
It's good he talked, Jo.
It's good it all came out.
Yeah...
And, you know, listening to him,
I realized it couldn't be so simple
as I made it all these years.
In my mind they were all monsters,
but, uh, your grandfather...
he was weak.
He was scared.
I can't say he was not human.
It was very disturbing for me.
He must think I hate him now.
But it's not that.
We can never be as close as before.
It's impossible.
He's not a bad man.
It was a horrific time, Jo.
But I don't even know
if he told the real story.
What if there's still more?
It's close enough.
May I come in? Are you decent?
Oh, you're such a fool!
Hola.
- This was attached to the door.
- How strange.
I knew you had a new lover in your life.
Oh, my God.
It's Jo's mother.
They have gone back to Germany
and she left him an airplane ticket.
Martha, I can't give him my blessing,
but I will, as you encouraged, let him be
and give him the choice
to come back if he wants to.
You are not dancing in those shoes?
They're so comfortable!
I'm not sure I'm going to dance,
but I'm going to see Jo.
- Everything okay?
- Yeah, fine.
I'm looking out for Martha.
- Martha?
- Martha is here?
Yeah.
She said she'd come and give us support.
Are you serious?
Yeah, isn't that great?
Forget it, Jo!
The manager is here.
Relax, she's cool. You know that.
Thank you.
You're sure you don't need me anymore?
No, no, I'll be fine.
- Hello.
- Hello. I'm here with Deejay Gello.
Oh, okay. Good. So. Sure.
- He's in the back. Just go through.
- Thank you.
Hey!
Hey! Go, go! Go and have a drink.
Jo!
Hey!
- Good to see you!
- Hey!
I'm so glad you came.
The night is young!
Put on one of these.
Pretty good, huh?
And you know what happens
if you hit that button?
I think
we should shake things up a little.
Go ahead!
Oh!
That's my sound!
- That's my sound too!
- Deejay Gello!
Gello! Gello! Gello!
Go easy there, guys.
The manager's down below.
I think he spotted you, Martha.
Gello! Gello!
Yeah!
Amnesia was great.
You were great.
You taught me everything I know.
You know...
the air ticket my mama left...
I won't need it.
Well, you never know.
I'm not going back.
I heard somebody who said that before.
But now I really have to go, briefly.
- You really want to go back?
- I have to, only for few days.
That would never have been possible
before I met you.
I don't stay here just for the music.
Listen, Martha...
Things just are starting for you now.
They're just starting for us.
Oh, Jo, this is wonderful, but...
this is it.
We are coming to our end.
What do you mean?
I'm so happy. Every time,
I get so excited before seeing you.
When we're together,
I don't know what to expect.
I-I know you don't see it.
Now I finally understand
what Alex taught me.
Alex? What are you talking about Alex for?
He taught me something very important,
but I guess it was too...
Too wise for me then.
He said,
We have already been everything
we needed to be for each other.
- Martha...
- Stay happy with that, Jo.
I'm trying...
This is a declaration of love here.
You're not making it easy.
I know.
Look at the sea.
The light.
How clear and bright.
You know if we carry on,
it will be only harder and harder.
It will be only pain from now on.
I don't want that.
Not for your sake, and not for mine.
Martha!
- Hello.
- Hello!
Hey!
- Hello there.
- Hey.
Peterchen, how are you?
Huh? Good?
Just like two days ago.
We have seen so many here.
Not one was exactly the same.
Martha!
The judges want you in Berlin.
They want you or your death certificate.
Tell them I'm dead.
- Can't I just sign something?
- No.
The court requires your presence.
So tell them I'm too old to travel
and they have to come here.
You're impossible!
We have to sell the Berlin property.
Our cousins need the money
for their retirement.
I just don't want to deal with this now.
You never want to deal with anything!
Fine. Carry on not facing up to your life.
I've survived pretty well this way,
you know.
Good-bye, Martha.
Oh, no. Otto, I told you it's no.
- Oh.
- I'm sorry...
- Oh, no, no, no.
- Please, no... No German.
Tienes... I don't know...
Uh, hielo? Ice?
Listen, I don't speak German,
you don't speak Spanish,
so let's just speak English.
Oh, my God! What's happening?
- I burnt myself.
- Come in.
Go ahead.
- I have something better than ice.
- Okay.
Aloe vera.
Okay. Great, but ice is totally fine.
Does it hurt?
No. No, you go ahead.
So, no electricity down here?
I have it up there.
I never needed it.
I'm your new neighbor.
You know, I was setting up my music stuff,
and I soldered the cables so fast,
I also soldered part of my hand.
- You're not English, huh?
- No. I'm from Berlin.
I came over a couple of weeks ago.
And you? You're not Spanish.
No.
But I didn't arrive a couple of weeks ago.
I heard Ibiza is the place for new music.
No rules, clubs opening up all the time.
If that's true, it's my dream.
You're a musician?
A long time ago.
- Professionally?
- Uh, no. My mother was.
No, please, don't touch it.
You could say it's a very shy cello.
It hasn't played for a long time.
- You're okay?
- Yeah. I'm fine.
Jo. My name's Jo.
Martha.
- So, thank you, Martha.
- You're welcome.
- It's okay?
- Yeah. Thank you.
- Good night.
- Good night.
Hello, Jo?
Hello? Martha?
Hey.
Oh!
- What's that?
- I didn't want to wake you.
But I thought after a few days your burn
would do well with my special cure.
It's just a bottle of calendula
and an aloe vera plant.
That's wonderful. Thank you.
Oh, no, I'll let you sleep.
- I have to go into town anyway.
- I have to get to town too.
I... I can give you a ride.
Oh. In that?
Well, yes.
I don't ride those.
Why not?
So, what's your thing with VWs?
They are all over the place.
But that's the point.
Imagine Hitler would have
outlived his Reich.
The car's success under his sponsorship,
around the world,
would have made him
the inventor of the economic miracle.
Oh.
The world is full of Hitler's Beetles.
That is like he had been forgiven
by all those millions of drivers.
Come on, Martha.
Ancient history. The war was 50 years ago.
Martha?
Hello?
Martha?
Hello!
Martha!
- Any catches today?
- Not much!
If you come over by those rocks,
you can come over and help me.
Hmm.
You know,
it's always been my big, dark secret,
but... I'm not a very good swimmer.
- What?
- Yeah.
I never learned.
I only skipped classes in school
when we went to the pool.
You're okay.
- So you said you're not a good swimmer?
- Yeah.
That's easily fixed, hmm?
Okay. Yeah! Oh...
Come on.
Okay. Come on. Stop, stop!
That's enough. I take your point, okay?
- Let's forget about... Aaah!
- Whoo-hoo-hoo!
Oh, my God!
You need some help?
Never trust a woman in a boat.
Thank you.
Now, here I know what I'm doing.
Give me one of those hooks.
I'm getting hungry too now.
Oh! No bandage?
Uh, yeah.
It took just two weeks.
Your special remedy is really something.
My grandfather taught me when I was a kid.
Whenever we went on a trip,
he'd tell me these great stories.
And he always brought an extra present,
like a record or a book.
With all those records,
I got the bug, you know?
Okay, let's find out.
And now we wait.
Ah. Ah!
I got one! Ah!
Yeah.
Yes!
- Lunchtime.
- Lunchtime!
So, you know, this fish would be perfect
with some white wine.
I brought over some Riesling from my home.
I'll go get us a bottle.
No, that's fine. I don't...
I only drink when it's dark.
Really?
I think you should break your rule.
Promise, it's worth it.
And that fish also needs
some lemon verbena.
There are some growing wild on a path
here. I'll go get them both, yeah?
You really don't need my help, huh?
Something else my grandfather taught me.
To music.
Yeah. To life.
I love it.
- You like it?
- Mm-hmm.
When I've set it up,
I'd like to show you my studio,
so you can see how it all works.
And, if you ever accepted, I would love
to use some of your own playing
- on a new composition.
- Oh, no.
My playing days are very much in the past.
I'm sure that's my loss.
Rudolfo.
- Another deejay?
- And Clarissa.
Rudolfo's the one who encouraged me
to come over to Ibiza.
He's also my manager. I forgot
we were meant to see each other today.
- Do you mind if he comes in?
- No, of course not.
It's just too bad
he is too late for lunch.
Hello, Clarchen.
So, you are Rudolfo, I believe.
Well, yes. Buenos das.
English is fine.
- Would you care for some coffee?
- Yeah, yeah.
Thank you.
- What's going on?
- What do you mean?
You move into a new house and...
you abandon me for a woman!
What are you on about?
You don't notice the girls
who look at you in the clubs.
But with the locals... you're ruthless.
I'm impressed.
You're crazy!
She's showing me the island.
I'm showing her my music.
Soon she'll show you her grandchildren.
I love spending time with her.
Sounds like love.
Anyway! Listen up.
Before you retire on me, listen to this.
The hot new club in Ibiza's old town
have agreed to take us on
- for a trial next week.
- No!
The Amnesia manager goes there every
Thursday, and that's when we're playing!
Great!
You know, Amnesia's the big one.
If we succeed, it would give me more time
to compose my own stuff, you know?
Ah, Jo, you're the true artist,
putting the rest of us into shame.
No, really, Martha,
I just want to become a famous deejay.
My dreams involve huge mixing decks,
massive crowds and strings
of screaming fans, preferably women.
I'm sorry.
Don't be sorry.
If you're going to have a dream,
you should at least believe in it.
Who cares what everybody else thinks?
Ah, it's Clarissa.
She's a little impatient.
Hi there.
- Are you a deejay too?
- No, she's our muse.
Your muse?
You leave your muse waiting in a car?
Exactly.
- Have some yourself before you go.
- Thank you.
Okay, we should make a move.
I don't want it to be
some German invasion all of a sudden.
Come on. Let's get out of here.
- Thank you so much.
- Lovely to meet you.
- Thank you.
- Bye. Good-bye.
Martha, lunch was wonderful. Um...
Rudolfo thinks
I spend too much time with you.
He should come fishing with us next time.
Tell him he's invited.
I don't want him to come.
- Martha, I don't know how to say it.
- Jo...
Let's just not talk about it.
You're right. I know.
Okay, bye.
What a beautiful day.
Look at that.
I spend hours with my tomatoes...
and they never come close
to anything as sublime.
You know, I really don't do anything.
Things just seem to like it here with me.
- I'm so happy you brought that wine.
- Oh, yes, you taste it?
Listen, listen, let me tell you.
There's really something different
about you, Martha.
- I doubt that.
- No, no, no.
There's something different.
You look... sparkling.
And I'm not just trying to charm you.
So, where have you been?
- Working like crazy. Oh, yeah!
- Oh! Working?
You don't believe me?
Jo! Come in.
You're just in time
to meet an old friend of mine.
This is Jo Gellert, a new friend.
And this is Sabater,
my favorite Catalan on this island
and my secret source of wine.
- Welcome to Ibiza, Mr. Gellert.
- Hello.
Are you just over for a visit?
No, I'm here to stay.
I live just up the road.
You know,
this little house just up the hills
where this English couple lived there
a while ago?
- Did you bring your music?
- Yeah.
I got a tape with a playlist
I'm thinking about for...
for a big club, Ku.
Oh, you are a deejay, Mr. Gellert?
In my early days,
but yes, that's what I do.
Well, I should be going.
Good luck with the music.
Thank you.
Bye.
Keep sparkling, Martha.
He has been living here forever.
So let's just listen to it.
Yeah.
Ah, Non!
- S, s!
- No!
This is the other side of Cap Non
we see from my house.
And you have a very nice view,
as you can see.
It's very quiet, very, very quiet.
It's delightful.
Why, we love it already.
Oh, I didn't know you were here,
Ms., uh... Ms. Sagell, right?
I'm always here.
Uh, well, these are Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
They are very interested in the house.
The house?
Yes.
Seor Laguna hasn't contacted you?
Seor Laguna? But who are you?
Oh, oh, I am sorry.
I am Seor Costa from Ibiza Estate Agency.
Well, this is a bit embarrassing.
I guess Laguna is getting old.
His son Pepe should have managed this.
Well, uh, Ms. Sagell, Seor Laguna has
put the house up for sale,
and Mr. and Mrs. Smith here,
they are very interested.
Oh, it's just charming!
Do you think we could possibly,
you know, take a peek inside?
A peek ins...?
No, I'm afraid you can't,
not at this moment.
Nobody told me the house was for sale.
I'm terribly sorry.
Talk to the son, Pepe.
He's taken charge of it all now.
But, please, please do it
as soon as possible.
We have already
a lot of interest in the property.
No kidding. I will call Pepe.
I'm sorry.
I eat these grapes all day long!
Mmm.
When I moved in,
the same grapes grew by the door.
Right. Old Laguna's house.
You really transformed that house!
I kept it like it was.
Laguna's son has put it up for sale.
Wow. I'd forgotten you were renting.
I should have bought it years ago.
I don't know what to do.
You told me your father left you
a property in the Black Forest.
Yes, but it's complicated.
I'd have to go to Germany.
So, what's the problem?
Hi, Mara, how are you?
Last year, on November 9, 1989,
the borders
between East and West disappeared.
They think it'll be the Third Reich again.
A process of reconciliation has started,
reuniting cities and people long separated
by ideology and politics.
Hey, Jo, you've got a phone call.
Come, take inside.
Are you done?
Let's go.
- What's with you?
- I'll tell you later.
Ten minutes to pack our bags
and catch the ferry!
What?
What's happening?
Jo?
Jo!
Jo!
I brought you some wine from Sabater.
It's much better than your stuff.
Mmm, fantastic.
Jo?
- Oh.
- Oh, hello!
- It's you again.
- Hello, Ms. Sagell.
I knocked, but there was nobody
inside so... so we decided to...
Mr. Petrov wanted to see the view
he would have from the terrace.
It's-It's fabulous! Mind-blowing!
Blows my mind every day.
But, Seor Costa,
it's really not a convenient moment.
- Hey.
- Hey!
I'm so glad to see you.
Well, me too.
You know, I can't find any trace
of that herb you brought me a while back.
It-It gave the nicest taste to the fish.
Where did you find it?
- Actually, it grows closer to my house.
- Ah.
I can show you. Come with me.
Hey.
So, how has it been going?
I haven't seen you for a while.
- I thought you might have left for good.
- No.
I had to leave all of a sudden.
A club in Formentera called us up.
They wanted us to play that night.
Their deejays canceled on them,
and they heard about us.
- I would never leave without telling you.
- Good.
- So, Formentera was great, wasn't it?
- Kind of.
I mean, it's great that they asked us,
but in a way it was horrible too.
The manager hated our own stuff
so he forced us to play
the same old crap every night.
But there will always be resistance
to the unknown.
You just have
to break the rules creatively.
Mix some new tunes with your favorites
and you will see if people keep dancing.
If they do,
the managers can't say anything.
Makes a lot of sense.
You haven't seen my studio yet, right?
- Want to take a look?
- See your...? Sure, of course, yes.
Welcome to the world of Deejay Gello,
where the future of music will be made.
This is it, my studio.
Usually I work with these. So, I promise
you won't hear a thing down at your house.
Ah.
- Music created in absolute silence?
- Mm-hmm.
Just like that silent cello of yours.
It's good, huh?
So, what I basically do is,
I record sounds and then I loop them.
It's called looping.
You could put anything in a loop.
For example, this...
It's a bird I recorded the other night.
Oh, I heard it too.
I can...
So, you are looping musics?
Looping is like putting different layers
on top of each other,
or connecting rings, you know?
Can I have a loop?
Yeah! Um...
You know what?
Let's make a whole new composition.
Oh!
So.
- You hold the microphone.
- Mm-hmm.
And we record something.
Get some water...
Okay.
So.
Ah.
I like that one.
Okay. This comes here...
Yeah.
Maybe something different...
Here.
Okay.
Yeah. Let's give it a little effect.
Uh-huh.
So, how we put them together and when
depends on the emotion you're after.
You know,
it's all about how it makes you feel.
So let's listen to it.
Ah?
Yeah. I knew you'd be a natural.
I'm a bit of a nerd, but I don't care.
Soon as I got melodies on my mind...
everything else fades away.
Mm-hmm.
I have melodies in my mind too.
I thought they were all gone...
from a long time ago.
But you brought them back.
Ah.
It's Rudolfo.
He was very impressed with you last time.
You gave him a great justification being
an unashamed glory hunter.
Oh, I'm sorry!
- Hey.
- Hello! Lovely to see you again, Martha.
- Hi!
- Everything okay?
Better than that.
- We've got the gig at Amnesia.
- What? Are you serious?
Something about Amnesia?
Yeah, for real!
One of the Amnesia managers was
in Formentera
and he heard us play on Thursday night.
- He loved it.
- Oh!
I met the guy this morning
and he gave me this. Down payment.
No need to think about heading home now.
This is so great.
One month from tonight and we're on.
But, Jo, we must give them what they want.
None of your original stuff,
especially your special mixes.
- Yeah, I know.
- Okay?
Otherwise they'll just replace us.
Feels good selling your soul to the devil!
There's enough to treat your girlfriend
to a really nice dinner.
So I bring a few samplers for tomorrow?
- Okay.
- You two have fun.
Bye, Martha!
- Bye!
- See you very soon.
- That's great news, isn't it?
- It's unbelievable.
So what about those herbs?
Are they over there?
Ah, yeah, right.
Come on. Let's get you some.
- On the island, we call it hierba luisa.
- Mm-hmm.
I hope we can enjoy them together.
- There you go.
- Thank you.
So much better than
taking me out to a really nice dinner.
What?
Taking me...? Didn't Rudolfo say that?
Martha?
You're understanding German now?
You've been listening
to our conversations...
But why?
I mean, what are we playing at,
talking in English?
- Isn't this easier?
- No, it's not much easier.
But why trick me like that?
It was not a trick, just...
Let's leave it, yeah?
I can't leave it.
This isn't some small detail.
Are your parents from Germany?
Did you live there?
Just leave it.
I left a long time ago,
and I never wanted to go back
and speak that language
or see that country.
And drive the cars and drink the wine...
- Are you Jewish?
- No.
Exactly the opposite.
I'm German from the beginning of Germany.
So, how come you're even talking to me?
I'm surprised you let all those German
composers get near your LP player.
No, no. That's not the same thing.
But you talk to me
about how to beat the rules,
and you got your own set
stacked like a scaffolding.
And I'm obviously
letting my guard down here.
Jo?
Jo?
Oh.
I didn't want you going without them.
Thank you. Come in.
You know best what to do with them.
But I haven't a clue about you.
It's crazy.
You could have walked past them
every day since you've been here.
I guess we can be blind to things
we think we know so well.
I will be deejay for tonight.
Any special requests?
Anything chilled out.
Aaah!
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Let me show you something.
Come here. Sit down.
Very impressive, yeah.
No, no, no, mine is much better. Look.
I'd forgotten how fun it was doing this.
Were I a little bird
Had I two little wings
I'd fly to you
But since it cannot be
But since it cannot be
I'll stay here alone
Did he teach you to play?
Yes.
He was my teacher. His name was Alex.
It was his cello.
He was Jewish.
We left Germany with my mother
to live in Zurich.
In 1936. I was 16.
What did you know then?
Did you know about the camps?
No.
Martha?
One day I was at the border with Alex.
At times he dared to be homesick.
We saw a bus there.
It was full of children.
It was in 1944, and I didn't know
that Himmler had exchanged those children
from the camps with Switzerland.
When the bus stopped...
some nurses ran towards it.
I knew all the children were
in Switzerland, saved.
But I was still terrified.
Where did they come from
that they looked so ill?
They were...
so pale, so thin...
so frail. It was awful.
The nurses went inside the bus
with water and bread.
Some children cried,
others held their arms out,
like towards their mothers.
Those who ate couldn't keep food down.
They were vomiting...
They were trembling...
How could I ever forget that?
Should I have forced myself to forget it?
Suddenly next to me, the voice...
of Alex.
He was talking, but I couldn't answer him.
He took his cello,
sat by the Rhine and played.
It was his way of fighting
what was happening on the other side.
What happened to him?
One day he had to sneak into France
to see his mother.
I never saw him again.
He was probably one of the last
to die in the camps.
Do you think about him a lot?
I was so young.
It was 50 years ago.
You wonder why I behave like this
since I wasn't even a victim?
No.
But in '45...
when I learned about the camps...
how could I ever speak
that Nazi language again?
I loved him very much.
I actually had
the most terrible crush on him.
I really picked the wrong moment
to fall in love.
So, you never went back
to Germany after Switzerland?
Never spoke the language again?
No.
Not until now, with you.
And I really can't believe how nice it is.
I feel like I'm breaking a promise,
my own guiding principle.
When I made this decision,
it felt like I had no other choice.
But now I don't know what to think.
I felt... I owed it to the victims
to be mad for eternity,
- but now, talking to you...
- Martha.
How would that have helped,
being mad forever at 16?
Tell me.
What did your parents tell you
about the war?
Not that much, really.
I mean, Dad died when I was young,
so it was just Mom and Grandpa.
He has stories, some great ones.
I loved listening to them.
But really, Martha,
I learned everything about war in school.
Every kid in Germany learns
about it over and over again.
And you believed everything they told you?
I read about it.
And I thought about it for myself.
I tried to understand.
What do you want me to say?
Come on, Martha, I didn't live through it.
And my mom grew up in a shattered country.
They all had to move on.
And for my generation,
if we wanted to go forward,
we kind of had to stop talking about it.
Yeah.
That's exactly the reason why
I never wanted to go back.
Everything just brushed under the carpet.
So never going back means
you dealt with it so much better?
I'm not so sure.
Maybe it left you free
never to confront it.
Germany still exists, and it has moved on.
My mother stuck it out.
She got her head down.
And whatever I think of her,
I can see she has a right
to be proud of all that work.
So you're proud of your mother?
That's good.
Yeah. I'm a fan of her job.
She's a good doctor.
Yeah. Pride and hard work
and rebuilding the nation.
It's a good way of, uh, pouring concrete
into horrific truth, yeah?
And never setting a foot
in the country again,
never speaking the language...
never driving the cars, drinking the wine?
How unfair I am.
How stubborn.
I didn't learn a thing.
Staying mad for eternity,
that was the only thing
I could do to fight it.
- Non?
- S, s!
In the red sunset glow.
We have through sorrow and joy
gone hand in hand.
From our wanderings,
let's now rest in this quiet land.
Around us the valleys bow.
As the sun goes down...
two larks soar upwards...
dreamily into the light air.
Come close and let them fly.
Soon it will be time for sleep.
Let's not lose our way in this solitude.
O vast, tranquil peace,
so deep in the red sunset glow!
How weary we are of wandering...
Is this perhaps death?
Martha...
Uh...
I heard you playing your cello.
It was beautiful.
But... I couldn't let it go like that.
- I went down to your house and...
- I didn't hear you knock.
No. I didn't knock.
Hmm.
See what you've started?
And that's not all the news.
Last night my mom called me and
she's thinking of coming over next month.
That's nice, isn't it?
Not exactly.
She'll want to convince me to return home.
She says I can't leave Germany now.
It's changing.
She thinks this is the big moment,
and if I don't come home,
a kid from the East will take my place.
She even brings Grandpa as a backup.
Your grandfather's coming too?
Three different generations of Germans
turning up on your doorstep all at once.
Hmm.
- Hello.
- Hello.
- So nice to meet you.
- Hello, Ms. Sagell.
Hello, Ms. Sagell.
I hear you have been
looking after my grandson!
Oh, he is doing fine by himself.
He just picked the wrong car to drive.
Yeah. Me and that damn Hitler vehicle.
So, thank you for inviting us
in your very charming home.
Oh, you're more than welcome.
- But, please, call me Martha.
- Thank you.
All this sea air! Wonderful.
But at least we will be crossing
this great sea ourselves in a few days.
A 30-minutes' crossing
to Formentera.
Five days, but without Jo, mmm?
The big Amnesia gig is coming up.
A career for my son in amnesia!
Elfriede, we are very proud, remember?
Big crowds coming to listen to Jo's music.
Yeah! There are so many
non-workers to entertain on this island.
- Tourists, Mom.
- Mm-hmm.
- So, Martha...
- Many peoples come here
just to have a good time.
- How long have you been living here?
- Oh, long enough not to be a tourist.
I guess I am what you would call
a non-worker.
Sorry.
So, look.
There is no way...
to complete a paella without this.
Ah.
I've no idea what this says,
but I trust you completely.
It's always been my policy to put
myself totally in the hands of women.
It's from Sabater.
- Sabater is your husband?
- Oh, no, no way.
He's just an old friend
and my wine dealer.
But, he did ask me once.
Oh, he did?
Sit down, wherever you like.
I hate table formalities.
Here we go.
Mmm!
May I?
Thank you. Oh!
Delicious.
Mmm. Exotic!
Yeah, must be that secret ingredient
I discovered recently.
So, Martha...
you never get scared here?
- So alone.
- Alone?
- Yeah.
- With all this sea around me?
Well, it's not exactly company.
I just imagine in the middle of winter,
with storms,
and the lights are going out...
Oh, Mom. You really would hate
living in this place.
- There's no electricity.
- No electricity?
No. There's only natural light
and petrol lamps when it's dark.
Oh!
It's a little bit
like going back to wartime.
When the American bombers left,
I can remember
we were without electricity,
without water for weeks, right, Dad?
Yeah. Weird stories.
Nobody talks as much
about the war as the Germans...
but, uh, I hear nobody talk
about Oradour or Lidice.
- Oradour?
- Mm-hmm.
We didn't have that at school.
I was six years old
when the Russians swarmed in.
We were punished hard enough.
Dad, tell.
What do you want me to say?
Tell Martha
about some of your experiences.
When the Russians arrived,
they were so... mad at us.
- But not at you.
- No!
All I had to do was to supervise
some girls at the factory camp.
What kind of camp exactly?
You know...
my bad ear kept me out of the military,
so they made me a reserve policeman,
and I was stationed at the...
At the store of an ordnance camp.
Ordnance factory. That's all.
- I don't think I want to hear more.
- He's a bit embarrassed.
He was one of the good ones, you know?
He behaved well.
You're getting so modest these days.
It's just, it's so long ago.
You know what I mean, Martha. Huh?
They had a camp
for eastern workers at the factory.
Please, not-not this old story again.
And it's always different
each time he tells it.
I bet.
One day, very, uh, small
and frail Jewish girls arrived.
They'd brought them over
from the east because...
their tiny fingers were so agile,
they could adjust the detonators.
And I had to supervise these girls.
That's all.
Because of their diligence, the Jews
were very precious for the factory.
They were even allowed
to grow their hair again.
They got rubber boots too, while all the
others had to drag around in clogs.
There we go. Last time I heard this story,
the girls were allowed straw shoes.
- Today it's rubber boots.
- And they got extra meals.
I mean, they got a can
of sardines each week.
One whole can each!
- And you had to supervise them?
- Oh.
One was called Wasilissa, from Moscow.
Another had studied
and spoke German perfectly.
She know... She knew Schiller
and Goethe and Karl Marx!
She always said Gjotte, Gjotte
instead of Goethe.
She had a book by Tolstoy,
a dual translation with Russian
on one side of the page,
and German on the other.
I-I even learnt a Russian poem back then.
Wasn't it Lermontov? Lermontov?
Oh, yeah.
I didn't mean for him
to give us the unabridged version.
I still remember all their names:
Wasilissa, Nadia from Gorky...
two Olgas from Ukraine,
the Polish girl, Danuta...
Yeah. And, uh, Katiza from Croatia,
who they called Blanka, the silly one,
because she was Catholic
but had pretended to be Jewish.
And two very quiet girls from Berlin.
Those two were called Ilse and Jutta.
And you know
what I did against the whole situation?
One night I brought a flask
of 4711 eau de cologne
so each girl could rub a droplet
behind her ear.
It meant they could... they could
rest down their heads on the pillow
with a pleasant smell
for the first time in ages.
And they all chatted
and told love stories to each other.
What happened to them?
What happened to the Jewish girls?
And then, uh...
Tell us the rest of the story, Bruno.
Hey.
- You speak German?
- You're German?
What happened to the other girls?
Why are we bothering to speak English?
You speak German fluently.
I don't understand any of this.
- This is so strange...
- Yeah.
The girls...
What happened to them?
We had to evacuate them
like all the prisoners.
I supervised them with the SS
during those long, hard days of walking.
The ones who were too weak
to go on were shot.
They killed the weakest all the time.
My girls had food.
At one point, in a barn...
in the middle of the countryside...
I escaped with the girls.
Nobody noticed us
with all those dead prisoners.
- And you stayed with them?
- Yes.
Of course!
They were my responsibility.
Did you see them again afterwards?
Yes.
The Russians arrived soon after.
They were so happy to see the girls.
They drank.
They sang and danced
and played the accordion.
Then they raped Ilse and Jutta
because they were German.
Believe me. This is the truth.
I believe you, but the rest of the story?
What happened before the Russians came?
The rest of the story is for another time.
It was the end.
The officers made me believe...
I had their respect and I had power.
But... they were playing with me.
They ordered me to kill one of the girls.
I did not have to do it.
I was not a soldier.
Jew!
As I refused to shoot...
they did it themselves.
Jo...
Jo...
I wanted so much...
Let go.
Is that it?
Hmm? Is that it?
I wanted so much
for this story to be different.
So I invented different versions.
I didn't protect them.
None of the Jewish girls survived.
The machine kept going
and I couldn't stop it.
I stood there and watched.
I should have put myself...
in front of their guns and died.
You had me to look after.
Thank you for the paella.
Jo?
Hello?
Jo didn't come to our hotel.
I'm looking for my son,
but he is not here.
He was meeting Rudolfo this morning.
We were meant to say good-bye
before going to Formentera.
Martha, I'm sorry for my father.
I thought there were things
he kept from us, but...
not that.
How can you carry on
not knowing exactly what happened?
Well, excuse me for voluntary amnesia.
Excuse me for not wanting to find out
every single disgusting thing
that anyone ever did
so I would have no will to do anything.
So I stayed,
and in your eyes
that makes me some accomplice
to absolutely everything terrible
whatever happened in the country.
You don't have
to be the one pulling the trigger
to keep the killing machine going.
We learned that much last night.
You keep thinking that.
You keep calling us all Nazis
just because we didn't lead
our own personal
anti-German rebellion all our lives.
I do not want to wallow in catastrophe.
I've got better things to do.
Why do you think I became a doctor?
I had to be useful in a country
that needed rebuilding...
that anyone was so damn suspicious of.
And I had to explain
why Hitler was Hitler to strangers.
- So, I was a little busy.
- Well, good for you.
You ran away. That's all you did.
Have you ever thought what good it did?
I mean,
apart from your own clear conscience?
You gave up your life in Germany for what?
Your action wasn't a strategy.
It was a selfish choice by a selfish kid.
You call everyone
who didn't resist the machine a coward.
You are a coward...
the kind who lives
in their bubble of righteousness,
thinking they're pure as an angel.
Please, don't overstate it.
I know I'm your bad conscience,
but that's not my problem.
Jo!
You're here?
Did you see your family
before they left for Formentera?
I just couldn't face them.
- You're mad at them?
- No.
I just need some space.
Everything's changed now.
I'm really sorry
it all came out like that.
You're close to your grandfather,
and what he said shouldn't change that.
How can't it change that?
Everything's different now.
I woke up this morning,
and it was like
when you come out of some dream.
You take a minute
to get a grip on reality,
but I just couldn't get hold of that
reality, because it's a new one now.
When you hear something that's been
like a favorite bedtime story for so long,
but then the ending suddenly changes,
there's no going back.
And hearing it with you there
took on even more weight.
It's good he talked, Jo.
It's good it all came out.
Yeah...
And, you know, listening to him,
I realized it couldn't be so simple
as I made it all these years.
In my mind they were all monsters,
but, uh, your grandfather...
he was weak.
He was scared.
I can't say he was not human.
It was very disturbing for me.
He must think I hate him now.
But it's not that.
We can never be as close as before.
It's impossible.
He's not a bad man.
It was a horrific time, Jo.
But I don't even know
if he told the real story.
What if there's still more?
It's close enough.
May I come in? Are you decent?
Oh, you're such a fool!
Hola.
- This was attached to the door.
- How strange.
I knew you had a new lover in your life.
Oh, my God.
It's Jo's mother.
They have gone back to Germany
and she left him an airplane ticket.
Martha, I can't give him my blessing,
but I will, as you encouraged, let him be
and give him the choice
to come back if he wants to.
You are not dancing in those shoes?
They're so comfortable!
I'm not sure I'm going to dance,
but I'm going to see Jo.
- Everything okay?
- Yeah, fine.
I'm looking out for Martha.
- Martha?
- Martha is here?
Yeah.
She said she'd come and give us support.
Are you serious?
Yeah, isn't that great?
Forget it, Jo!
The manager is here.
Relax, she's cool. You know that.
Thank you.
You're sure you don't need me anymore?
No, no, I'll be fine.
- Hello.
- Hello. I'm here with Deejay Gello.
Oh, okay. Good. So. Sure.
- He's in the back. Just go through.
- Thank you.
Hey!
Hey! Go, go! Go and have a drink.
Jo!
Hey!
- Good to see you!
- Hey!
I'm so glad you came.
The night is young!
Put on one of these.
Pretty good, huh?
And you know what happens
if you hit that button?
I think
we should shake things up a little.
Go ahead!
Oh!
That's my sound!
- That's my sound too!
- Deejay Gello!
Gello! Gello! Gello!
Go easy there, guys.
The manager's down below.
I think he spotted you, Martha.
Gello! Gello!
Yeah!
Amnesia was great.
You were great.
You taught me everything I know.
You know...
the air ticket my mama left...
I won't need it.
Well, you never know.
I'm not going back.
I heard somebody who said that before.
But now I really have to go, briefly.
- You really want to go back?
- I have to, only for few days.
That would never have been possible
before I met you.
I don't stay here just for the music.
Listen, Martha...
Things just are starting for you now.
They're just starting for us.
Oh, Jo, this is wonderful, but...
this is it.
We are coming to our end.
What do you mean?
I'm so happy. Every time,
I get so excited before seeing you.
When we're together,
I don't know what to expect.
I-I know you don't see it.
Now I finally understand
what Alex taught me.
Alex? What are you talking about Alex for?
He taught me something very important,
but I guess it was too...
Too wise for me then.
He said,
We have already been everything
we needed to be for each other.
- Martha...
- Stay happy with that, Jo.
I'm trying...
This is a declaration of love here.
You're not making it easy.
I know.
Look at the sea.
The light.
How clear and bright.
You know if we carry on,
it will be only harder and harder.
It will be only pain from now on.
I don't want that.
Not for your sake, and not for mine.
Martha!
- Hello.
- Hello!
Hey!
- Hello there.
- Hey.
Peterchen, how are you?
Huh? Good?
Just like two days ago.
We have seen so many here.
Not one was exactly the same.