Charlotte (2021) Movie Script
[birds chirping]
[thudding]
[ Charlotte ] I've called it,
"Life,
or theatre?"
[gasps]
- How did you manage
to paint so many?
- Time's running out.
I had to finish quickly.
[soft music]
[sighs]
Please keep it safe.
It's my whole life.
[soft music]
- Mama?
[soft orchestral music]
[opera vocals]
[applause]
- I will miss this.
- They have the opera in Rome.
- No. I will miss this.
- Jews, out!
Come on!
What you looking at?!
- Come on, out!
- We'll stand for no
interruptions from you.
You charge in here
like common brutes.
Find a place, and sit quietly
or leave.
But we will resume our program.
[crowd murmuring]
- Let's go.
I think this is the end.
[door slams]
- Let us begin.
Again.
[applause]
[sighs]
- Maybe Grossmama
and Grosspapa
are right to leave.
- Germany is our homeland.
We aren't leaving.
- What would you say
you're doing?
- Your grandmother
needs to rest her nerves.
- We could all rest our nerves.
- I won't stand for cheek!
- No more.
Please.
- Charlotte.
Not now.
- All right. Not now.
[soft music]
[indistinct chattering]
[buzzer chiming]
[humming]
- That's very good.
- Oh...
Thank you.
- There's so much to see,
it's hard to know
where to look.
It must be wonderful
to be able to draw.
When you leave, you can take
a part of this with you.
- Yes.
[clearing throat]
- Hello, I'm Ottilie.
Ottilie Moore.
- Ah. I am Herr Doktor
Ludwig Grunwald.
This is my wife,
Frau Marianne Benda Grunwald.
And this is my---
- I'm Charlotte.
Charlotte Salomon.
- Are you visiting?
- We've recently moved here.
From Berlin.
Our granddaughter
is just visiting.
- I'm also visiting.
I'm from New York.
- Oh.
- It was lovely to meet you.
[laughing]
Are you studying art
in Berlin?
- With tutors.
I dropped out of school.
- I like you more and more.
- I think you're the only one.
- A smart girl like you,
I don't suppose you dropped out
because you couldn't figure out
the square of the hypotenuse.
They must have been
horrible to you.
- It's just how it is
for Jewish girls in Germany.
- Well,
fortunately the world
is bigger than Germany.
[soft music]
[indistinct chattering]
Your granddaughter
is a very charming young woman.
- Yes. She's always enjoyed
travelling with us,
ever since she was a girl.
- Forgive me if this sounds
presumptuous,
but I now live
in the Cte d'Azur,
and my place is very beautiful.
I have plenty
of room for guests.
- That's very kind, Mrs. Moore.
- I'm afraid Charlotte's place
is in Berlin with her parents.
They have their careers there.
- Of course. But if Italy
doesn't work out,
or if Berlin becomes impossible,
my door is always open.
- Signorina! Signorina!
- Allow me.
[soft music]
[indistinct chattering]
[sighs]
[indistinct murmuring]
[opera vocals]
- [Mr. Alfred Wolfsohn]
We've got a lot of work to
do, Frau Lindberg,
to recapture
your former perfection.
- Whether I attain
perfection or not,
who is going to notice,
Mr. Wolfsohn?
- If you truly attain it,
it won't matter who notices.
Singing is the urge to freedom.
And you will be
liberated from...
- There you are.
Where have you been?
- I went for a walk in the park.
- By yourself?
- I think that's
still permitted.
- Charlotte, meet
Mr. Alfred Wolfsohn.
Mr. Wolfsohn was sent to me
by Dr. Singer.
He has also suffered
under the current conditions.
- With the proper tutelage,
your mother has the
technique and voice
to become the greatest singer
in the world.
- Then how lucky for the world
that she's found such a teacher.
- Are you an artist?
- I...
- Charlotte is at the Schmoller
School of Fashion Design.
She's good with her hands,
like her father.
We're hoping she'll find work
as a seamstress.
- And is this also your hope?
- Drawing is more of a hobby
for Charlotte.
- I'd love to see
your work sometime.
- I'd like that too.
Very nice to meet you.
[soft piano melody]
- How can you draw?
I'm so nervous,
I can barely sit still.
- I suppose it's what I do
to settle my nerves.
- Who is that supposed to be?
- I don't know yet.
- Charlotte Salomon.
- Heil Hitler.
- Yes, yes. Heil.
Put them on the desk.
Thank you.
Miss Salomon,
I'm sure you appreciate
how competitive our school is.
There are far more applicants
than placements,
and artists without
formal training
are at a distinct disadvantage.
You are currently at a school
of fashion design.
And then, there is
the unfortunate matter
of your race.
However, the committee did
look favourably
at your sketch.
And took into consideration
your father's Iron Cross.
Miss Salomon,
I need to know
if despite the circumstances,
I offer you a place,
will I come to regret it?
- No, I promise you won't.
Thank you!
- Barbara Frisch Prinz.
- You will see here how
the light strikes the subject.
Now it is important
that the shadow and shade
that you use follows...
[door closes]
- Lotte.
We've been expecting you.
- Your classes would've
ended long ago.
I hope you weren't wandering
around on your own again.
- No, I guess I just
lost track of time.
- Today at the Kulturbund,
I ran into Mr. Klein,
the tailor.
He's agreed to take you
into his shop.
- I hear he has
an excellent reputation.
- He gives the best pay.
And in good time...
he said he could
make you a cutter.
- I appreciate it. Thank you.
But I can't work at Mr. Klein's.
- You can't...
or won't?
- Can't.
I've won a place
at the Academy of Fine Arts!
- What?
That's wonderful!
But how did this come about?
- I sketched a naked man.
They liked it.
[laughing]
- But... Charlotte.
You won't be able
to hide the fact...
- That I'm a Jew?
They know.
- Here's to our Charlotte.
[clinking]
[quivering exhale]
- Paula?
[sobbing]
- Paula?
I really am grateful.
- Oh...
You silly girl.
Do you think
that's why I'm crying?
You have no idea how hard
a life in art is.
Especially now.
I was just trying
to spare you the pain.
- Thank you, Paula.
But I didn't ask to be spared.
- No...
No, I suppose you didn't.
- Seek symmetry,
seek harmony,
and above all,
do not deform
what is already perfect.
- Heil Hitler.
- Manfred. Heil Hitler.
What is the function of art?
Barbara.
Please, come to the front
of the class.
[indistinct whispering]
See how beautiful she is.
There is nothing left
for you to do except
achieve precision.
Precision before all things!
That is our goal.
[scoffs]
To elevate.
To celebrate.
To inspire!
[car engine rumbling]
- You know you shouldn't
be sitting there.
- I know.
I haven't seen you
at the apartment.
- They only let me
use the studios
after everyone's gone.
- Ah. Did you work well today?
- I produced another one
of my "artistic deformities."
- Ha. That's how it is.
You'll do harm to your soul
with all their rules.
[chuckling]
Maybe you'll finally
show me some of your work.
You're clearly governed
by strong emotions.
- Expressionism too.
[laughing]
- Yes!
[distant barking]
- It's called
"Death and the Maiden."
- Why did you do this?
- I don't know.
I was just...
thinking about my mother.
- Paula?
- No.
My real mother.
- How did she die?
- Influenza.
- How old were you?
- Eight.
- Old enough to remember...
and to feel her absence.
It's as though
she wants something from death.
Something only he can provide.
Are you the girl?
- Maybe.
You can have it if you'd like.
- Then I must give you
something in return.
It's my experiences of the war.
- Weren't you too young
to serve?
- I was 17.
I barely survived.
Read it, and you'll understand.
[soft music]
[cars passing]
[knocking]
- Lotte?
A letter's arrived for you
from Ottilie Moore.
What does she say?
- Grossmama and Grosspapa
continue to be
the perfect house guests.
[laughing]
- Then they must be grumbling
only in their letters to us.
- Have you ever known
Grosspapa
to stifle his grumbling?
I don't think
she pays it any mind.
- Where did you...?
- Who is she?
- We saved you a piece
of Augusta Sachertorte.
[sighs]
- Sweetheart...
that's your mother's sister.
Your aunt Charlotte.
- I'm named after--
- Yes.
Your mother wanted
to honour her memory.
- Why was I never
told about her?
- It was such a painful
memory for your mother.
- How did she die?
- She drowned...
in Lake Wannsee.
- It was such
an unfortunate accident.
- How long were you
going to keep this secret?
- It never seemed
like the right time.
- Lotte, it's not easy
for your father
to talk about these things.
You should understand.
You're not a child.
- Precisely, Paula.
I'm old enough
to know the truth.
- What would Professor Koch say?
What are the rules for this?
- I think you make them up
as you go.
- That would terrify him.
How can that be taught?
- Maybe not taught, but learned.
- At least they're not
burning the paintings.
- Not yet.
- It's not only like they don't
belong in the same room,
but in the same building,
in the same country,
anywhere at all.
- That's the idea.
- I prefer those ones.
I suppose I'm sick too.
- Well... The cure is worse
than the disease.
- Ladies and gentlemen,
the museum is now closing.
- See you tomorrow?
- Yes.
- Charlotte!
Forgive me, I'm terribly late.
- You missed the exhibit.
- Oh, I've seen it.
I wanted to see it with you,
but sometimes...
fate doesn't comply.
Can I buy you a drink?
- Yes.
- So, what did you think
of the exhibit?
- The Nazis have redefined
the meaning of "degenerate".
[laughing]
- True art is about
the chaos inside us.
It's not for decorating
dinner plates or advertisements.
- We also need dinner plates
and advertisements.
- Yes!
What do you think
people would say,
me bringing you
to a place like this?
- Nobody needs to know.
[clinking]
I've been thinking of your book.
- Has it inspired you?
- Yes, but it...
also terrified me.
- Oh...
- I kept imagining
what it would've been like
to be buried alive.
- Even after the dug me out,
I felt more dead than alive.
I was the corpse who couldn't
stop hearing the cries
of other corpses.
But in time, I realized
that to rejoin the ranks
of the living,
I couldn't wait for life
to love me.
No.
What matters is not
whether life loves us...
but that we love life.
[chuckling]
- What is it?
- Your face...
reveals all your feelings.
- I wish it didn't.
[indistinct conversations]
[rain pattering]
Goodnight, Mr. Wolfsohn.
- Call me Alfred, won't you?
- Goodnight, Alfred.
[soft music]
[humming]
[knocking]
Oh.
- Charlotte Salomon?
[sighs]
[knocking]
- Please, come in.
- We should hurry, dear,
if we want to be on time.
- Have a nice evening,
Mr. Wolfsohn.
- Charlotte? Are you all right?
- Yes.
- Would you like
to come with us?
Mr. Wolfsohn, thank you.
- Good evening.
- Goodbye.
- Charlotte?
What is it, Charlotte?
- I've been expelled
from the Academy.
- So the bastards finally
got tired of torturing you.
You should be rejoicing!
Not mourning.
Come. Show me what
you've been working on.
Hm.
[gasps]
You were thinking about
my book when you drew this?
- Yes.
- I'm afraid to look into
his eyes, for what I see there.
The madness and terror
I've been trying to escape.
Would you illustrate
my book for me?
- Really?
- Yes, you were meant to do it.
Forgive me, but...
I have to go.
But meet me tomorrow.
Spend the day with me
at Lake Wannsee.
- I'd love to.
- And bring your bathing suit.
[soft orchestral music]
- What is it, Lotte?
[raindrops pattering]
[thunder booming]
- I love thunderstorms.
- Are you cold?
- No.
- Thunder and lightning
have always cleansed
the world best.
This day is eternal.
Because it's so wild and happy.
- Yes.
- Happiness runs much deeper
than suffering.
Don't you think?
- Mm-hmm.
[thunder rumbling]
- Do you paint happy moments,
or...
just the sad ones?
- The sad ones
always feel more true.
[sombre music]
[city soundscape]
[indistinct chattering]
[upbeat music]
- You'll wait
for me there, dear?
[gasps]
- Who was that?
- Charlotte!
Um... my fiance.
- Who are you?
- Charlotte, I can explain.
- I made a promise to you.
- Oh, extraordinary.
[glass shattering, screaming]
- Jews will pay!
- Heil Hitler!
- Oh, my God!
- There's a way out back.
[all shouting]
Charlotte!
[screaming]
- Filthy kike.
[fire crackling]
[indistinct shouting]
[sombre music]
- Jews! Get out of here, kikes!
- They're running
like cockroaches.
[distant barking]
- Germany for Germans!
[panting]
[footsteps marching]
[indistinct chattering]
- Dr. Salomon,
you can't go out there.
They're rounding up Jewish men
all over the city.
- I have to get to the hospital.
- We can also help
with the wounded.
- No! It's too dangerous.
- Let's not debate this now.
[banging on door]
- Dr. Salomon.
[banging]
We would like to speak
to Dr. Albert Salomon.
- Of course, gentlemen,
I understand,
and I don't want to waste
any of your time,
but he isn't here.
- Stop talking!
What a nice life
you've made for yourselves here!
- Where is the Jewish swine?!
- I am Dr. Albert Salomon.
- Papa!
- My dear, everything
will be fine.
Look after your mother.
- Let's go!
- Papa!
[door opening]
[indistinct conversation]
- Papa!
- Charlotte.
I walked nearly
all the way from the camp.
- You can rest now, my darling.
- No, Paula.
After Sachsenhausen,
there can be no rest.
- Albert!
- Oh! Papa!
- Paula and I
have been talking...
It's nearly impossible
to get exit visas
to leave this forsaken place,
but...
but we can say
your grandparents are sick,
and that they need you.
You'll pack light,
no one can think
you're leaving for good.
- You need me here, Papa.
[sobbing]
- As soon as I'm well,
I'll find a way for us
to be reunited.
[sobbing]
- Oh, Papa!
- It's for the best, my dear.
- I love you, Lotte.
[sobbing]
[sombre music]
[indistinct chattering]
[whistle blowing]
[train whistling]
[soft music]
- Charlotte!
I have a feeling
you'll be happy here.
- It's very beautiful.
[insects chirping]
[distant laughter]
- Grosspapa.
- It is good you are here,
Charlotte.
Your grandmother
hasn't believed
a word I've said
about you coming.
- Can I go to her?
- Alexander!
This is Charlotte Salomon,
who I was telling you about.
- Hello, Charlotte.
Welcome to France.
- It's nice to meet you.
- Why don't you carry
Charlotte's bag to her quarters?
Then walk her over
to her grandmother.
- Of course.
I hope you like it here.
It can't have been easy
leaving Berlin.
- Where are you from?
- Austria.
I managed for a time
with false papers,
but in the end, I had to leave.
And I found my way here.
Adopted by Ottilie
like the children
and your grandparents.
So, I'm also a refugee.
Except I got here on foot
over the Alps.
- My god.
Compared to that,
my trip here was a holiday.
I wonder if you can take me
to my grandmother now.
- She hasn't been well.
- Oh...
[radio] British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain
spoke to
the House of Commons today
declaring that any German attack
on France would be regarded...
- Grossmama?
- ... as an attack on Britain,
and would be delt with--
- Grossmama?
It's me, Charlotte.
Everything's all right,
I'm here now.
- It's no use, Charlotte.
- How about we go outside?
There's so much sun,
so much light.
Have you seen all the flowers
in the garden?
- No! No, no, no.
- Oh...
What's this?
- My god, she has the Veronal.
- Veronal?
- It's poison.
- What?
- For the day our money
runs out.
We don't live like beggars.
- What on earth are you saying?
- It's just life, Charlotte.
It's nothing.
- Grossmama!
- Lotte...
- Grossmama, I've missed you.
[light music]
- When I bought this house,
it was on a whim.
- Really?
- On the face of it,
it made no sense.
This American woman by herself
in such a big place...
What for?
[chuckling]
I couldn't have guessed
that one day,
it would be so full of people.
So full of life and purpose...
and that I would only wish
that it were...
bigger.
- Yes.
[distant laughter]
[gulls squawking]
[distant music]
- Charlotte, dear!
Thank you!
The painting of the house
is beautiful!
- She's right,
it's a beautiful painting.
- Georges!
Charlotte, meet my friends,
Dr. Georges and Odette Moridis.
- Nice to meet you.
- And you as well.
- Dr. Moridis has helped
take care of your grandmother.
- As much as your grandfather
would allow.
Doctors don't like to listen
to other doctors.
- How is my grandmother doing?
- Walk with me, Charlotte.
- I do think she's doing
better of late.
- In truth, your grandfather
has made it very difficult
for me to treat
your grandmother.
- I'm not surprised.
- A couple of months ago,
I had to give her morphine.
She was having
a psychotic episode.
She kept saying she saw someone
floating in the water.
Has she been like that before?
- Not exactly.
She doesn't let go
of bad memories easily.
- Yes, I know.
Try not to worry.
- Is everything all right?
It's hard for older people
to adjust.
- It's hard for everybody.
I wish my grandfather
would realize that what matters
is not that life loves us,
but that we love life.
[chuckling]
Don't you think that's true?
- Sure, it's just nicer
when it works both ways.
Care to dance?
[indistinct conversations]
- Good night.
- Bye.
- Charlotte, pack your things.
We'll leave first thing
tomorrow.
- What are you talking about?
- I can't care
for your grandmother by myself,
but since now you're here,
we'll be on our way.
- And what if I don't
want to go?
- Want?
It is your duty to take care
of your grandparents.
It also says as much
on your entrance visa.
You would choose
that scar face over us?
[sighs]
Don't forget
how you were raised.
[knocking]
- Yes?
- They're waiting.
[rooster crowing]
- What is it?
- An announcement came
over the radio not long ago.
Britain and France have declared
war on Germany.
[gasps]
- So...
it's started.
- Your studio will be kept
as you left it.
Come back any time
you feel the need.
[soft music]
[bells chiming in the distance]
- I would prefer
regular mealtimes.
- And I'd prefer to be with
Ottilie and the kids painting.
- You're not in this world
just to paint, Charlotte.
- No, I'm mostly here
to serve you.
Grossmama?
[sobbing]
[jazzy music playing on radio]
[sighs]
- Marianne! No!
[gasps]
- Marianne!
[struggling grunts]
Oh...
[coughing]
Oh, my dear. What have you done?
- Please...
Let me die...
I feel it. Please...
Please.
[sobbing]
Let me die.
- You gave everyone
a terrible scare.
- Thank you for coming.
- You mustn't do that again.
- Can you manage
with all this, Lotte?
- Yes...
I have to.
- The time to call is before
something like this
happens again.
Don't hesitate.
- I'll try.
- Some tranquillizers
for her nerves.
- Goodbye, doctor.
- Are you sure you don't want
to return to Ottilie's?
- No, we can care
for her ourselves.
- So you say.
- I suppose
I will get this filled.
For all the good it will do.
- I got a letter
from Papa yesterday.
He and Paula are safe
in Amsterdam.
When the war's over,
we'll all be reunited in Berlin.
Won't that be nice?
- Charlotte, my dear. You think
you could get some flowers?
They'd really cheer us up.
- I'll get you anything
you want, Grossmama.
I love you.
- And I love you too,
sweetheart.
[suspenseful music]
[distant barking]
[sobbing]
- No, no, Grossmama, no.
- Ah!
[glass shattering]
Ah!
Marianne!
What have you done?
[sobbing]
[sombre music]
How many times
can a man endure this?
- What do you mean?
- First it was Georg...
your grandmother's brother.
He was studying law,
he showed the first signs.
He'd burst into hysterical
laughter out of the blue.
He drowned himself.
His death drove your
great-grandmother Teresa mad.
For years, she tried
to slip away from the nurses
and take her life.
She did horrifying things
to herself.
Incredible how she suffered.
It was a relief
when the woman died.
During that terrible time,
your mother was born.
It's like a disease
in the blood!
- Did she also kill herself?
- Your mother...
She took opium from
your father's medical bag,
and when that didn't work,
she threw herself
out of a window.
How could we ever recover?
[slamming]
It was too much for her.
Our Charlotte in the lake,
then your mother
jumped from the window.
Too much! Too much!
Don't!
[door slams]
[sighs]
[soft music]
[birds chirping]
[sobbing]
[knocking]
- Charlotte?
- I feel it inside me.
The same demon that haunted
so many of my family.
Sooner or later,
the demon claims us.
My aunt when she was a girl,
my mother,
my grandmother now.
I'm going to paint
the story of my life...
of my family.
It could take hundreds
of paintings.
And I don't know
how much time I have left.
- None of us do.
- I will put everything
I have into it,
everything... beautiful,
and everything hideous.
Only by doing something mad
can I hope to stay sane.
[waves crashing]
[distant laughter]
[boy playing]
- Hey!
Hey!
[laughter]
[aircraft roaring]
[knocking]
- I'm back.
- Oh...
Thank you.
Oh no.
He was awful, wasn't he?
I can't thank you enough
for going there.
- Ah, it's nothing.
I've endured worse.
- Another nasty,
threatening letter?
"Charlotte, you are required
by law to live with me.
If you stay away,
I will call the police."
- Maybe it's time you went
to stay with him again...
just for a while.
- The last time I was there,
those weeks...
I felt like I was dying.
- I understand.
- Are you all right?
- I'm fine.
Have a seat.
Listen...
I've decided to leave.
I'm taking the kids to Spain.
From there,
we'll get to America.
I want you both to come with us.
- Oh...
- Charlotte?
Survive.
[sombre music]
[engine revving]
[bell chiming in the distance]
[indistinct conversations]
- Stupid Jew!
[whistle blowing]
- Grosspapa!
[laughing]
- Hey, you!
Stop!
- Scoundrels...
[whimpering]
[thudding]
- Grosspapa!
Grosspapa!
[breathing heavily]
Sir!
Sir! Could you help us, please?
Please!
Grosspapa!
[thunder rumbling]
[coughing]
Grosspapa!
- I'm very tired.
- Come. Come, Grosspapa.
It's not far.
[rain pouring]
[coughing]
- I must return to Germany.
- Your Germany no longer exists,
Grosspapa.
I will call Dr. Moridis.
- No!
I used to be a respected doctor.
I had an intelligent wife,
and two beautiful daughters.
I had my books.
Now I have nothing.
- You shouldn't think like that.
- Don't tell me how to think.
I have nothing but a selfish,
stubborn, granddaughter,
only good for a few
slapdash paintings.
The best are gone,
and I'm left with you.
You.
And how long before
you kill yourself too?
I'll have my dinner
in bed this evening.
It would've been better
if that fall had killed me.
[thunder rumbling]
[distant coughing]
[slow beeping]
[fire crackling]
[suspenseful music]
What's this?
An omelette?
I would've liked something else.
- Me too.
- Some coffee, Charlotte.
- Of course, Grosspapa.
[coughing, choking]
[dishes clattering]
[soft music]
[sobbing]
- You should take a break.
- Only when I'm done.
[vomiting, panting]
- Please, Alexander,
have a seat.
Okay, from what I can see...
Charlotte is going to be
just fine...
and so is... the baby!
- Really?
[laughing]
- Congratulations!
[laughing]
[opera music]
- Do you know how many
you've painted?
- Nearly a thousand.
- How many more will there be?
- I'm not sure,
but I'm nearing the end.
- What do you call it?
- A play with music.
Or a film in pictures.
It's every memory from my life,
including ones I didn't remember
until I painted them.
And some that never happened.
But they're no less true.
- Has someone made
something like this before?
- I don't know.
Probably not.
- What does it feel like
to do this?
- It's like...
pulling something from yourself
time and again.
Like a splinter.
The pain and the
satisfaction of it.
- Hm.
You must be
a really great artist
to make me sympathize with him.
- It's in the past,
you have nothing to worry about.
- Is that so?
Oh, that's good.
Because... I was thinking,
it might be nice
if we got married.
- Is that your proposal?
- Charlotte, I love you.
Will you marry me?
- Yes.
- All right...
I've distracted you enough
for one day.
- Professions?
- Groundskeeper.
- I'm an artist.
- Right. Papers, please.
[knocking]
Not now, come back
in ten minutes!
Charlotte Salomon. Very good.
Residence: 10 Avenue
Victor-Cauvin.
Ah. Uh...
We have a problem, Mr. Nagler.
- What is it?
- You are not permitted
to marry a Jew.
It is forbidden.
- I am a Jew.
- Alexander...
- Then your papers are false.
- I'm aware of that.
- You realize I will be obliged
to register you as a Jew?
I will do the same
in our city records.
- I understand.
Go ahead.
[soft music]
[glasses clinking]
To all of you,
for your warm friendship...
Where would we be without it?
And to all the friends
and family
who can't be with us today.
I know they would want us to
celebrate as if they were here,
and to live for today.
And be hopeful for tomorrow.
Which is what
we are all doing here.
Celebrating life!
And our faith...
in life.
So, to life!
- And, of course, to new life!
- And to peace.
Don't forget peace.
- And to Ottilie...
and the children.
- L'chaim, my darling.
- L'chaim.
[jazz music]
[snoring]
Could you spare a minute?
- Of course.
How did you manage
to paint so many?
- I had to finish quickly.
Time's running out.
Please keep it safe.
It's my whole life.
- Lotte.
[symphonic music]
- Ah...
My God...
It's so beautiful.
Hey! That's for the cake!
It's a surprise for Dr. Moridis.
My mother used to make it
when I was a child.
I need more strawberries,
would you mind?
- Not at all, my love.
[vehicle approaching]
[door slamming]
- Nagler!
Hands up!
Hands up, I said!
[thudding]
- Where is Charlotte Salomon?
- I beg of you, stop!
- Alexander!
- Please, stop!
[crying]
- No! No! Let me go!
[thudding]
- Charlotte!
- Get your hands off me,
let me go!
[vehicle engine revving]
[leaves rustling]
[thudding]
[ Charlotte ] I've called it,
"Life,
or theatre?"
[gasps]
- How did you manage
to paint so many?
- Time's running out.
I had to finish quickly.
[soft music]
[sighs]
Please keep it safe.
It's my whole life.
[soft music]
- Mama?
[soft orchestral music]
[opera vocals]
[applause]
- I will miss this.
- They have the opera in Rome.
- No. I will miss this.
- Jews, out!
Come on!
What you looking at?!
- Come on, out!
- We'll stand for no
interruptions from you.
You charge in here
like common brutes.
Find a place, and sit quietly
or leave.
But we will resume our program.
[crowd murmuring]
- Let's go.
I think this is the end.
[door slams]
- Let us begin.
Again.
[applause]
[sighs]
- Maybe Grossmama
and Grosspapa
are right to leave.
- Germany is our homeland.
We aren't leaving.
- What would you say
you're doing?
- Your grandmother
needs to rest her nerves.
- We could all rest our nerves.
- I won't stand for cheek!
- No more.
Please.
- Charlotte.
Not now.
- All right. Not now.
[soft music]
[indistinct chattering]
[buzzer chiming]
[humming]
- That's very good.
- Oh...
Thank you.
- There's so much to see,
it's hard to know
where to look.
It must be wonderful
to be able to draw.
When you leave, you can take
a part of this with you.
- Yes.
[clearing throat]
- Hello, I'm Ottilie.
Ottilie Moore.
- Ah. I am Herr Doktor
Ludwig Grunwald.
This is my wife,
Frau Marianne Benda Grunwald.
And this is my---
- I'm Charlotte.
Charlotte Salomon.
- Are you visiting?
- We've recently moved here.
From Berlin.
Our granddaughter
is just visiting.
- I'm also visiting.
I'm from New York.
- Oh.
- It was lovely to meet you.
[laughing]
Are you studying art
in Berlin?
- With tutors.
I dropped out of school.
- I like you more and more.
- I think you're the only one.
- A smart girl like you,
I don't suppose you dropped out
because you couldn't figure out
the square of the hypotenuse.
They must have been
horrible to you.
- It's just how it is
for Jewish girls in Germany.
- Well,
fortunately the world
is bigger than Germany.
[soft music]
[indistinct chattering]
Your granddaughter
is a very charming young woman.
- Yes. She's always enjoyed
travelling with us,
ever since she was a girl.
- Forgive me if this sounds
presumptuous,
but I now live
in the Cte d'Azur,
and my place is very beautiful.
I have plenty
of room for guests.
- That's very kind, Mrs. Moore.
- I'm afraid Charlotte's place
is in Berlin with her parents.
They have their careers there.
- Of course. But if Italy
doesn't work out,
or if Berlin becomes impossible,
my door is always open.
- Signorina! Signorina!
- Allow me.
[soft music]
[indistinct chattering]
[sighs]
[indistinct murmuring]
[opera vocals]
- [Mr. Alfred Wolfsohn]
We've got a lot of work to
do, Frau Lindberg,
to recapture
your former perfection.
- Whether I attain
perfection or not,
who is going to notice,
Mr. Wolfsohn?
- If you truly attain it,
it won't matter who notices.
Singing is the urge to freedom.
And you will be
liberated from...
- There you are.
Where have you been?
- I went for a walk in the park.
- By yourself?
- I think that's
still permitted.
- Charlotte, meet
Mr. Alfred Wolfsohn.
Mr. Wolfsohn was sent to me
by Dr. Singer.
He has also suffered
under the current conditions.
- With the proper tutelage,
your mother has the
technique and voice
to become the greatest singer
in the world.
- Then how lucky for the world
that she's found such a teacher.
- Are you an artist?
- I...
- Charlotte is at the Schmoller
School of Fashion Design.
She's good with her hands,
like her father.
We're hoping she'll find work
as a seamstress.
- And is this also your hope?
- Drawing is more of a hobby
for Charlotte.
- I'd love to see
your work sometime.
- I'd like that too.
Very nice to meet you.
[soft piano melody]
- How can you draw?
I'm so nervous,
I can barely sit still.
- I suppose it's what I do
to settle my nerves.
- Who is that supposed to be?
- I don't know yet.
- Charlotte Salomon.
- Heil Hitler.
- Yes, yes. Heil.
Put them on the desk.
Thank you.
Miss Salomon,
I'm sure you appreciate
how competitive our school is.
There are far more applicants
than placements,
and artists without
formal training
are at a distinct disadvantage.
You are currently at a school
of fashion design.
And then, there is
the unfortunate matter
of your race.
However, the committee did
look favourably
at your sketch.
And took into consideration
your father's Iron Cross.
Miss Salomon,
I need to know
if despite the circumstances,
I offer you a place,
will I come to regret it?
- No, I promise you won't.
Thank you!
- Barbara Frisch Prinz.
- You will see here how
the light strikes the subject.
Now it is important
that the shadow and shade
that you use follows...
[door closes]
- Lotte.
We've been expecting you.
- Your classes would've
ended long ago.
I hope you weren't wandering
around on your own again.
- No, I guess I just
lost track of time.
- Today at the Kulturbund,
I ran into Mr. Klein,
the tailor.
He's agreed to take you
into his shop.
- I hear he has
an excellent reputation.
- He gives the best pay.
And in good time...
he said he could
make you a cutter.
- I appreciate it. Thank you.
But I can't work at Mr. Klein's.
- You can't...
or won't?
- Can't.
I've won a place
at the Academy of Fine Arts!
- What?
That's wonderful!
But how did this come about?
- I sketched a naked man.
They liked it.
[laughing]
- But... Charlotte.
You won't be able
to hide the fact...
- That I'm a Jew?
They know.
- Here's to our Charlotte.
[clinking]
[quivering exhale]
- Paula?
[sobbing]
- Paula?
I really am grateful.
- Oh...
You silly girl.
Do you think
that's why I'm crying?
You have no idea how hard
a life in art is.
Especially now.
I was just trying
to spare you the pain.
- Thank you, Paula.
But I didn't ask to be spared.
- No...
No, I suppose you didn't.
- Seek symmetry,
seek harmony,
and above all,
do not deform
what is already perfect.
- Heil Hitler.
- Manfred. Heil Hitler.
What is the function of art?
Barbara.
Please, come to the front
of the class.
[indistinct whispering]
See how beautiful she is.
There is nothing left
for you to do except
achieve precision.
Precision before all things!
That is our goal.
[scoffs]
To elevate.
To celebrate.
To inspire!
[car engine rumbling]
- You know you shouldn't
be sitting there.
- I know.
I haven't seen you
at the apartment.
- They only let me
use the studios
after everyone's gone.
- Ah. Did you work well today?
- I produced another one
of my "artistic deformities."
- Ha. That's how it is.
You'll do harm to your soul
with all their rules.
[chuckling]
Maybe you'll finally
show me some of your work.
You're clearly governed
by strong emotions.
- Expressionism too.
[laughing]
- Yes!
[distant barking]
- It's called
"Death and the Maiden."
- Why did you do this?
- I don't know.
I was just...
thinking about my mother.
- Paula?
- No.
My real mother.
- How did she die?
- Influenza.
- How old were you?
- Eight.
- Old enough to remember...
and to feel her absence.
It's as though
she wants something from death.
Something only he can provide.
Are you the girl?
- Maybe.
You can have it if you'd like.
- Then I must give you
something in return.
It's my experiences of the war.
- Weren't you too young
to serve?
- I was 17.
I barely survived.
Read it, and you'll understand.
[soft music]
[cars passing]
[knocking]
- Lotte?
A letter's arrived for you
from Ottilie Moore.
What does she say?
- Grossmama and Grosspapa
continue to be
the perfect house guests.
[laughing]
- Then they must be grumbling
only in their letters to us.
- Have you ever known
Grosspapa
to stifle his grumbling?
I don't think
she pays it any mind.
- Where did you...?
- Who is she?
- We saved you a piece
of Augusta Sachertorte.
[sighs]
- Sweetheart...
that's your mother's sister.
Your aunt Charlotte.
- I'm named after--
- Yes.
Your mother wanted
to honour her memory.
- Why was I never
told about her?
- It was such a painful
memory for your mother.
- How did she die?
- She drowned...
in Lake Wannsee.
- It was such
an unfortunate accident.
- How long were you
going to keep this secret?
- It never seemed
like the right time.
- Lotte, it's not easy
for your father
to talk about these things.
You should understand.
You're not a child.
- Precisely, Paula.
I'm old enough
to know the truth.
- What would Professor Koch say?
What are the rules for this?
- I think you make them up
as you go.
- That would terrify him.
How can that be taught?
- Maybe not taught, but learned.
- At least they're not
burning the paintings.
- Not yet.
- It's not only like they don't
belong in the same room,
but in the same building,
in the same country,
anywhere at all.
- That's the idea.
- I prefer those ones.
I suppose I'm sick too.
- Well... The cure is worse
than the disease.
- Ladies and gentlemen,
the museum is now closing.
- See you tomorrow?
- Yes.
- Charlotte!
Forgive me, I'm terribly late.
- You missed the exhibit.
- Oh, I've seen it.
I wanted to see it with you,
but sometimes...
fate doesn't comply.
Can I buy you a drink?
- Yes.
- So, what did you think
of the exhibit?
- The Nazis have redefined
the meaning of "degenerate".
[laughing]
- True art is about
the chaos inside us.
It's not for decorating
dinner plates or advertisements.
- We also need dinner plates
and advertisements.
- Yes!
What do you think
people would say,
me bringing you
to a place like this?
- Nobody needs to know.
[clinking]
I've been thinking of your book.
- Has it inspired you?
- Yes, but it...
also terrified me.
- Oh...
- I kept imagining
what it would've been like
to be buried alive.
- Even after the dug me out,
I felt more dead than alive.
I was the corpse who couldn't
stop hearing the cries
of other corpses.
But in time, I realized
that to rejoin the ranks
of the living,
I couldn't wait for life
to love me.
No.
What matters is not
whether life loves us...
but that we love life.
[chuckling]
- What is it?
- Your face...
reveals all your feelings.
- I wish it didn't.
[indistinct conversations]
[rain pattering]
Goodnight, Mr. Wolfsohn.
- Call me Alfred, won't you?
- Goodnight, Alfred.
[soft music]
[humming]
[knocking]
Oh.
- Charlotte Salomon?
[sighs]
[knocking]
- Please, come in.
- We should hurry, dear,
if we want to be on time.
- Have a nice evening,
Mr. Wolfsohn.
- Charlotte? Are you all right?
- Yes.
- Would you like
to come with us?
Mr. Wolfsohn, thank you.
- Good evening.
- Goodbye.
- Charlotte?
What is it, Charlotte?
- I've been expelled
from the Academy.
- So the bastards finally
got tired of torturing you.
You should be rejoicing!
Not mourning.
Come. Show me what
you've been working on.
Hm.
[gasps]
You were thinking about
my book when you drew this?
- Yes.
- I'm afraid to look into
his eyes, for what I see there.
The madness and terror
I've been trying to escape.
Would you illustrate
my book for me?
- Really?
- Yes, you were meant to do it.
Forgive me, but...
I have to go.
But meet me tomorrow.
Spend the day with me
at Lake Wannsee.
- I'd love to.
- And bring your bathing suit.
[soft orchestral music]
- What is it, Lotte?
[raindrops pattering]
[thunder booming]
- I love thunderstorms.
- Are you cold?
- No.
- Thunder and lightning
have always cleansed
the world best.
This day is eternal.
Because it's so wild and happy.
- Yes.
- Happiness runs much deeper
than suffering.
Don't you think?
- Mm-hmm.
[thunder rumbling]
- Do you paint happy moments,
or...
just the sad ones?
- The sad ones
always feel more true.
[sombre music]
[city soundscape]
[indistinct chattering]
[upbeat music]
- You'll wait
for me there, dear?
[gasps]
- Who was that?
- Charlotte!
Um... my fiance.
- Who are you?
- Charlotte, I can explain.
- I made a promise to you.
- Oh, extraordinary.
[glass shattering, screaming]
- Jews will pay!
- Heil Hitler!
- Oh, my God!
- There's a way out back.
[all shouting]
Charlotte!
[screaming]
- Filthy kike.
[fire crackling]
[indistinct shouting]
[sombre music]
- Jews! Get out of here, kikes!
- They're running
like cockroaches.
[distant barking]
- Germany for Germans!
[panting]
[footsteps marching]
[indistinct chattering]
- Dr. Salomon,
you can't go out there.
They're rounding up Jewish men
all over the city.
- I have to get to the hospital.
- We can also help
with the wounded.
- No! It's too dangerous.
- Let's not debate this now.
[banging on door]
- Dr. Salomon.
[banging]
We would like to speak
to Dr. Albert Salomon.
- Of course, gentlemen,
I understand,
and I don't want to waste
any of your time,
but he isn't here.
- Stop talking!
What a nice life
you've made for yourselves here!
- Where is the Jewish swine?!
- I am Dr. Albert Salomon.
- Papa!
- My dear, everything
will be fine.
Look after your mother.
- Let's go!
- Papa!
[door opening]
[indistinct conversation]
- Papa!
- Charlotte.
I walked nearly
all the way from the camp.
- You can rest now, my darling.
- No, Paula.
After Sachsenhausen,
there can be no rest.
- Albert!
- Oh! Papa!
- Paula and I
have been talking...
It's nearly impossible
to get exit visas
to leave this forsaken place,
but...
but we can say
your grandparents are sick,
and that they need you.
You'll pack light,
no one can think
you're leaving for good.
- You need me here, Papa.
[sobbing]
- As soon as I'm well,
I'll find a way for us
to be reunited.
[sobbing]
- Oh, Papa!
- It's for the best, my dear.
- I love you, Lotte.
[sobbing]
[sombre music]
[indistinct chattering]
[whistle blowing]
[train whistling]
[soft music]
- Charlotte!
I have a feeling
you'll be happy here.
- It's very beautiful.
[insects chirping]
[distant laughter]
- Grosspapa.
- It is good you are here,
Charlotte.
Your grandmother
hasn't believed
a word I've said
about you coming.
- Can I go to her?
- Alexander!
This is Charlotte Salomon,
who I was telling you about.
- Hello, Charlotte.
Welcome to France.
- It's nice to meet you.
- Why don't you carry
Charlotte's bag to her quarters?
Then walk her over
to her grandmother.
- Of course.
I hope you like it here.
It can't have been easy
leaving Berlin.
- Where are you from?
- Austria.
I managed for a time
with false papers,
but in the end, I had to leave.
And I found my way here.
Adopted by Ottilie
like the children
and your grandparents.
So, I'm also a refugee.
Except I got here on foot
over the Alps.
- My god.
Compared to that,
my trip here was a holiday.
I wonder if you can take me
to my grandmother now.
- She hasn't been well.
- Oh...
[radio] British Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain
spoke to
the House of Commons today
declaring that any German attack
on France would be regarded...
- Grossmama?
- ... as an attack on Britain,
and would be delt with--
- Grossmama?
It's me, Charlotte.
Everything's all right,
I'm here now.
- It's no use, Charlotte.
- How about we go outside?
There's so much sun,
so much light.
Have you seen all the flowers
in the garden?
- No! No, no, no.
- Oh...
What's this?
- My god, she has the Veronal.
- Veronal?
- It's poison.
- What?
- For the day our money
runs out.
We don't live like beggars.
- What on earth are you saying?
- It's just life, Charlotte.
It's nothing.
- Grossmama!
- Lotte...
- Grossmama, I've missed you.
[light music]
- When I bought this house,
it was on a whim.
- Really?
- On the face of it,
it made no sense.
This American woman by herself
in such a big place...
What for?
[chuckling]
I couldn't have guessed
that one day,
it would be so full of people.
So full of life and purpose...
and that I would only wish
that it were...
bigger.
- Yes.
[distant laughter]
[gulls squawking]
[distant music]
- Charlotte, dear!
Thank you!
The painting of the house
is beautiful!
- She's right,
it's a beautiful painting.
- Georges!
Charlotte, meet my friends,
Dr. Georges and Odette Moridis.
- Nice to meet you.
- And you as well.
- Dr. Moridis has helped
take care of your grandmother.
- As much as your grandfather
would allow.
Doctors don't like to listen
to other doctors.
- How is my grandmother doing?
- Walk with me, Charlotte.
- I do think she's doing
better of late.
- In truth, your grandfather
has made it very difficult
for me to treat
your grandmother.
- I'm not surprised.
- A couple of months ago,
I had to give her morphine.
She was having
a psychotic episode.
She kept saying she saw someone
floating in the water.
Has she been like that before?
- Not exactly.
She doesn't let go
of bad memories easily.
- Yes, I know.
Try not to worry.
- Is everything all right?
It's hard for older people
to adjust.
- It's hard for everybody.
I wish my grandfather
would realize that what matters
is not that life loves us,
but that we love life.
[chuckling]
Don't you think that's true?
- Sure, it's just nicer
when it works both ways.
Care to dance?
[indistinct conversations]
- Good night.
- Bye.
- Charlotte, pack your things.
We'll leave first thing
tomorrow.
- What are you talking about?
- I can't care
for your grandmother by myself,
but since now you're here,
we'll be on our way.
- And what if I don't
want to go?
- Want?
It is your duty to take care
of your grandparents.
It also says as much
on your entrance visa.
You would choose
that scar face over us?
[sighs]
Don't forget
how you were raised.
[knocking]
- Yes?
- They're waiting.
[rooster crowing]
- What is it?
- An announcement came
over the radio not long ago.
Britain and France have declared
war on Germany.
[gasps]
- So...
it's started.
- Your studio will be kept
as you left it.
Come back any time
you feel the need.
[soft music]
[bells chiming in the distance]
- I would prefer
regular mealtimes.
- And I'd prefer to be with
Ottilie and the kids painting.
- You're not in this world
just to paint, Charlotte.
- No, I'm mostly here
to serve you.
Grossmama?
[sobbing]
[jazzy music playing on radio]
[sighs]
- Marianne! No!
[gasps]
- Marianne!
[struggling grunts]
Oh...
[coughing]
Oh, my dear. What have you done?
- Please...
Let me die...
I feel it. Please...
Please.
[sobbing]
Let me die.
- You gave everyone
a terrible scare.
- Thank you for coming.
- You mustn't do that again.
- Can you manage
with all this, Lotte?
- Yes...
I have to.
- The time to call is before
something like this
happens again.
Don't hesitate.
- I'll try.
- Some tranquillizers
for her nerves.
- Goodbye, doctor.
- Are you sure you don't want
to return to Ottilie's?
- No, we can care
for her ourselves.
- So you say.
- I suppose
I will get this filled.
For all the good it will do.
- I got a letter
from Papa yesterday.
He and Paula are safe
in Amsterdam.
When the war's over,
we'll all be reunited in Berlin.
Won't that be nice?
- Charlotte, my dear. You think
you could get some flowers?
They'd really cheer us up.
- I'll get you anything
you want, Grossmama.
I love you.
- And I love you too,
sweetheart.
[suspenseful music]
[distant barking]
[sobbing]
- No, no, Grossmama, no.
- Ah!
[glass shattering]
Ah!
Marianne!
What have you done?
[sobbing]
[sombre music]
How many times
can a man endure this?
- What do you mean?
- First it was Georg...
your grandmother's brother.
He was studying law,
he showed the first signs.
He'd burst into hysterical
laughter out of the blue.
He drowned himself.
His death drove your
great-grandmother Teresa mad.
For years, she tried
to slip away from the nurses
and take her life.
She did horrifying things
to herself.
Incredible how she suffered.
It was a relief
when the woman died.
During that terrible time,
your mother was born.
It's like a disease
in the blood!
- Did she also kill herself?
- Your mother...
She took opium from
your father's medical bag,
and when that didn't work,
she threw herself
out of a window.
How could we ever recover?
[slamming]
It was too much for her.
Our Charlotte in the lake,
then your mother
jumped from the window.
Too much! Too much!
Don't!
[door slams]
[sighs]
[soft music]
[birds chirping]
[sobbing]
[knocking]
- Charlotte?
- I feel it inside me.
The same demon that haunted
so many of my family.
Sooner or later,
the demon claims us.
My aunt when she was a girl,
my mother,
my grandmother now.
I'm going to paint
the story of my life...
of my family.
It could take hundreds
of paintings.
And I don't know
how much time I have left.
- None of us do.
- I will put everything
I have into it,
everything... beautiful,
and everything hideous.
Only by doing something mad
can I hope to stay sane.
[waves crashing]
[distant laughter]
[boy playing]
- Hey!
Hey!
[laughter]
[aircraft roaring]
[knocking]
- I'm back.
- Oh...
Thank you.
Oh no.
He was awful, wasn't he?
I can't thank you enough
for going there.
- Ah, it's nothing.
I've endured worse.
- Another nasty,
threatening letter?
"Charlotte, you are required
by law to live with me.
If you stay away,
I will call the police."
- Maybe it's time you went
to stay with him again...
just for a while.
- The last time I was there,
those weeks...
I felt like I was dying.
- I understand.
- Are you all right?
- I'm fine.
Have a seat.
Listen...
I've decided to leave.
I'm taking the kids to Spain.
From there,
we'll get to America.
I want you both to come with us.
- Oh...
- Charlotte?
Survive.
[sombre music]
[engine revving]
[bell chiming in the distance]
[indistinct conversations]
- Stupid Jew!
[whistle blowing]
- Grosspapa!
[laughing]
- Hey, you!
Stop!
- Scoundrels...
[whimpering]
[thudding]
- Grosspapa!
Grosspapa!
[breathing heavily]
Sir!
Sir! Could you help us, please?
Please!
Grosspapa!
[thunder rumbling]
[coughing]
Grosspapa!
- I'm very tired.
- Come. Come, Grosspapa.
It's not far.
[rain pouring]
[coughing]
- I must return to Germany.
- Your Germany no longer exists,
Grosspapa.
I will call Dr. Moridis.
- No!
I used to be a respected doctor.
I had an intelligent wife,
and two beautiful daughters.
I had my books.
Now I have nothing.
- You shouldn't think like that.
- Don't tell me how to think.
I have nothing but a selfish,
stubborn, granddaughter,
only good for a few
slapdash paintings.
The best are gone,
and I'm left with you.
You.
And how long before
you kill yourself too?
I'll have my dinner
in bed this evening.
It would've been better
if that fall had killed me.
[thunder rumbling]
[distant coughing]
[slow beeping]
[fire crackling]
[suspenseful music]
What's this?
An omelette?
I would've liked something else.
- Me too.
- Some coffee, Charlotte.
- Of course, Grosspapa.
[coughing, choking]
[dishes clattering]
[soft music]
[sobbing]
- You should take a break.
- Only when I'm done.
[vomiting, panting]
- Please, Alexander,
have a seat.
Okay, from what I can see...
Charlotte is going to be
just fine...
and so is... the baby!
- Really?
[laughing]
- Congratulations!
[laughing]
[opera music]
- Do you know how many
you've painted?
- Nearly a thousand.
- How many more will there be?
- I'm not sure,
but I'm nearing the end.
- What do you call it?
- A play with music.
Or a film in pictures.
It's every memory from my life,
including ones I didn't remember
until I painted them.
And some that never happened.
But they're no less true.
- Has someone made
something like this before?
- I don't know.
Probably not.
- What does it feel like
to do this?
- It's like...
pulling something from yourself
time and again.
Like a splinter.
The pain and the
satisfaction of it.
- Hm.
You must be
a really great artist
to make me sympathize with him.
- It's in the past,
you have nothing to worry about.
- Is that so?
Oh, that's good.
Because... I was thinking,
it might be nice
if we got married.
- Is that your proposal?
- Charlotte, I love you.
Will you marry me?
- Yes.
- All right...
I've distracted you enough
for one day.
- Professions?
- Groundskeeper.
- I'm an artist.
- Right. Papers, please.
[knocking]
Not now, come back
in ten minutes!
Charlotte Salomon. Very good.
Residence: 10 Avenue
Victor-Cauvin.
Ah. Uh...
We have a problem, Mr. Nagler.
- What is it?
- You are not permitted
to marry a Jew.
It is forbidden.
- I am a Jew.
- Alexander...
- Then your papers are false.
- I'm aware of that.
- You realize I will be obliged
to register you as a Jew?
I will do the same
in our city records.
- I understand.
Go ahead.
[soft music]
[glasses clinking]
To all of you,
for your warm friendship...
Where would we be without it?
And to all the friends
and family
who can't be with us today.
I know they would want us to
celebrate as if they were here,
and to live for today.
And be hopeful for tomorrow.
Which is what
we are all doing here.
Celebrating life!
And our faith...
in life.
So, to life!
- And, of course, to new life!
- And to peace.
Don't forget peace.
- And to Ottilie...
and the children.
- L'chaim, my darling.
- L'chaim.
[jazz music]
[snoring]
Could you spare a minute?
- Of course.
How did you manage
to paint so many?
- I had to finish quickly.
Time's running out.
Please keep it safe.
It's my whole life.
- Lotte.
[symphonic music]
- Ah...
My God...
It's so beautiful.
Hey! That's for the cake!
It's a surprise for Dr. Moridis.
My mother used to make it
when I was a child.
I need more strawberries,
would you mind?
- Not at all, my love.
[vehicle approaching]
[door slamming]
- Nagler!
Hands up!
Hands up, I said!
[thudding]
- Where is Charlotte Salomon?
- I beg of you, stop!
- Alexander!
- Please, stop!
[crying]
- No! No! Let me go!
[thudding]
- Charlotte!
- Get your hands off me,
let me go!
[vehicle engine revving]
[leaves rustling]