我对我生命中许多重要事件一无所知 I did not witness the most important events in my life.
了解我的故事应该是从一个盲人说起 My deepest story must be told by a blind man...
在严密的城墙之后 from behind a wall...
从厚厚的泥土之下 from underground.
喂 快开门 Hey, open the door.
快啊 Open up!
这一段弹法应该是连奏的 The second legato...
应该悠扬些 should be slower.
我们要跟上 我听不到他们来了 We have to hurry, I can hear them coming.
- 快点 - Come on. - Bella - Bella...
快躲在下面 Under there.
进去 快进去 Go, go!
这不是开玩笑 Jakob 里面有32个罐子 This isn't a joke, Jakob, listen. There are 32 cans in the cuboard.
可以使你藏起来 活到他们离开 我们会回来 Long before you run out, we'll be back.
不可以开门 知道吗 Don't open the door to anyone. Understand?
等我们回来 保证 Wait for us. Promise!
- 对 我保证 - Yes, I promise. - 不会让你等太久 - And be quiet.
呆在这里别动 你去检查楼上 Stay where you are! Go, check the upstairs!
去看看那边 Check over there!
- 求求你了 - Please don't... - 闭嘴 - Be quiet!
安静点 闭嘴 Shut up! Shut up!
你跟我过去 You're coming with us.
你这是在找死 You'll get us killed.
你明白吗 You understand?
你应该知道这一点的 You should have thought of that.
该死 Damn it!
停车 Stop!
你们要去哪里 Where are you going?
他在一个考古地域工作 但他生病了 He works at an archeological dig, he's sick.
- 你来自克拉科夫 - You come from Krakow? - 是的 - Yes.
他可能是患了伤寒 我现在必须要带他去医院 It may be typhus. I'm taking him to a hospital.
给我看护照 Passport.
- Athanassios Roussos来自希腊 - Athanassios Roussos. Greece. - 是的 - Yes.
你怎么了 What's the matter with you?
可能是感染了 A infection...
- 如果出血较多就去境内的医院 - much bleeding, hospital across border. - 知道了 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
快走吧 Drive on!
给：Athos Roussos和Jakob Beer By: Athos Roussos & Jakob Beer
作伪证等：历史和记忆 BEARING FALSE WITNESS: HISTORY AND MEMORY
Jake 你能递给我条毛巾吗 Jake... can you get me a towel?
给你 Here you go.
我一直在想这张纸所表达的 I've been thinking about paper.
纸或者中国 Paper or china?
中国或纸吗 China or paper?
- 我认为它是一张纸 - I think it's paper. - 什么 - What?
我们的一周年纪念日 First year anniversary.
- 是在下礼拜 - That's next week. - 我知道 - I know.
我认为我们应该提前庆祝一下 不是吗 I think we should celebrate.
为什么要等呢？ Why wait?
Hmmm.
你还好吗 Are you all right?
是的 Yeah.
或许我们应该等到下个星期 Maybe we should just get ready.
可以 Okay.
你准备好了吗 You ready to go?
有个女人在比克瑙 This woman at Birkenau...
她把一张照片送给了她的丈夫和女儿 she kept an image of her husband and daughter...
她把照片剪下来 放到舌头下三个月 cut from a photo, underneath her tongue for three months.
她可以随时随地死亡 She could've been killed at any moment.
真是令人难以置信 Incredible.
我想是的 Yeah.
这个人会死后还会留下这张照片 That a person would die for a photograph.
你根本不想去 对吧 You don't wanna come, do you?
每个人都很想念你 Everyone will miss you.
而他们会开始觉得你不喜欢他们的 They're starting to think you don't like them.
你不能不眠不休的做这个 You can't work on this all the time.
你让自己走火入魔 You'll drive yourself mad.
事实上 我快完成了 Actually, I will finished it.
你为什么不回答 Why didn't you say anything?
那就太好了 Jake It's great, Jake.
现在你就可以心无旁骛了 You can move on now.
翻开你的人生 做任何你想做的正事 Start your own book, do whatever you want.
- 我们来个旅行怎么样 - We could take that trip. - 什么旅行 - What trip?
去个漂亮的岛屿 希腊怎么样 To the island. To Greece.
好吧 我…… Yeah. I...
视情况而定 Maybe.
噢 Jake Oh, Jake.
别磨磨蹭蹭 他们都等着我们 Come on. They'll be waiting for us.
- 我们可以分享这个好消息 - We can share the good news. - 不……我 - No, I...
我不能为它 I'm not up for it.
-你去吧 - You go. -或者 - Or...
-可能我会一直呆在那 - maybe I could just stay here. -哦不 - No, no.
我单独去 Go alone.
向大家问好吧 Say hello to everyone.
好吧 Okay.
棒棒的 jake It's great, Jake.
这是一个新的开始 A new beginning.
嘿 Hey...
我们在这里 We're here.
我的儿子 My son...
这是…… There it is...
我们的家 Home.
我要做什么吗 What am I going to do with you?
我们刚结婚的时候 When we were married...
我希望Alex在 I hoped that if I let Alex in...
如果再给我一米阳光 if I let in a finger of light...
他会清零 it would flood the clearing.
起初 我不知道这究竟发生了什么事情 And at first, this is exactly what happened.
Mingus Mendelssohn 还有Mozart... Mingus, Mendelssohn, Mozart...
Mantovani Mantovani.
-这真是个奇怪的选择 - That's an odd selection. -我在M - I'm on the "M's".
哈哈 Ha...
这些是速成课程吗 Crash course?
恩是的 像那样的东西 Huh, yeah... Something like that.
关于音乐我想我知道的不是很多 I really don't know that much about music.
但我的姐姐经常玩音乐 My sister used to play.
-真的吗 - Did she? -是的 - Yeah.
-是什么呢 - What? -是钢琴 - The piano.
-Beethoven Brahms Schumann - Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann. -她有一个很好的品味 - She had good taste.
-我想是的 - Yeah. -她还在玩吗 - Does she still play?
不 不 她……她不能玩了 No... No, she's... she doesn't play anymore.
你知道吗 在音乐学院有个音乐会 Do you know about the concerts at the conservatory?
不知道 No.
啊 W.E.A 和工人教育协会 Ah... W.E.A... The Workers Education Association.
公会在每个礼拜天的下午两点 The union... Every Sunday afternoon at two.
这都是一些很业余的东西，真的 但是我大部分的朋友都会去 It's all amateur stuff, really... but a lot of my friends go.
你去玩吗？ Who do you hang out with?
恩 我真的没有任何朋友 Uh... I don't really have any friends.
-是吗 - No? -是的 - Well...
一些 A few.
好吧 或许我能负担得起 Well, I could probably afford to be...
更多角度的你 more discriminating myself.
嗷 Oh!
天哪 看看那些 Oh, look at those.
真是完美 Those are perfect.
你需要一双套鞋 You need a pair of galoshes.
不 我需要哪些 看它的颜色 No, I need those... It's the color.
他们在湿滑的路面看起来是多么的绚烂 They'll look brilliant on the wet pavement.
嗷嗷 哼唧哼唧 Hee... haw!
啥？ What?
-你真的是 - You're so... -你为什么笑 - Why you're laughing?
你真的是太 You're so...
-你太严肃了 - You're so serious. -哦对不起 - I'm sorry.
不 不要说对不起 No, don't be sorry.
Okay, I抦 not sorry.
我给你买了你喜欢的书 I brought you back your books.
-嗨 ben - Hi, Ben. -嗨 - Hey.
我真的很喜欢这个陌生人 I really liked "the stranger"...
可能是七天吧 "seven days in may"... 没那么长 not so much.
我不知道 我真的 I don't know... I'm not really 不喜欢政治惊悚小说 into political thrillers.
你来得有点早 ben You're a little early, Ben. 现在几点了 What time is it?
啊 我不知道 Uh... I don't know.
ben？ Ben?
哦 你在这里啊 Oh, there you are.
离开雅各后他很孤单 他可能 他还没吃早饭呢 Leave Jacob alone... he probably hasn't even had his breakfast yet.
-这一切都是正确的 - That's all right. -来吧 - Come on.
我给你带的那些全新的书怎么样 How about I bring you a new batch of books later?
可以 Okay.
你一直都在毁掉他 You've always spoiled him.
哦 你好 Oh... Hello.
噢 这是Alex Oh, this is Alex...
这是Joseph and this is Joseph.
-Joseph 呃 - Joseph, um... -很高兴见到你 - Nice to meet you.
-他……住在大厅 - he... he lives down the hall. -哈 - Ha...
我知道jakob的时候他还是个孩子呢 I've known Jakob since he was a boy.
真的么？ Really?
哦是的 他是个非常可爱的小男孩 Oh yes... yes, he was a lovely boy too, huh...
那么的安静 彬彬有礼 so quiet, so polite.
你让我好尴尬啊Joseph You're embarrassing me, Joseph.
呃 好吧 Oh, well...
好吧我快离开了 你和 ……你的朋友 I'll, uh... I'll leave you and... uh, your friend.
再见 Bye... huh.
-你在干啥 - What are you doing? -没啥 - Nothing.
所以你会住在这个地方很长时间么 So, you've lived in this place a long time.
是的 Yeah.
我从来没有住在任何地方超过两年以上 I've never lived anywhere for more than two years.
这里很舒适 Well, it's comfortable.
恩 Hmm.
呃 这是啥 Mmm, what's that?
我猜你没有很大的改变 You're not too big on change, I'm guessing.
呃 Oh...
Jacob 我们来约会吧 Jacob and I came here on our first date.
我们不是那个日子认识的 That wasn't a date... we'd just met.
或许日期不是 好吧我以为你会带她去一些可怕的地下爵士乐俱乐部 Date or not, I thought you'd had taken him to some horrible underground jazz club.
或者一些神 Marshal McLuhan的可怕讲座 Or some god... awful lecture by Marshal McLuhan.
或者一些很有价值的 但也非常枯燥的会议 Or to some very worthy, but also very dull meeting on the joys...
劳动进步全靠党 of the Labor Progressive Party.
而你现在却取消我的政治 And now you're making fun of my politics.
好吧 我们知道你是诚实的 Well, we know you come by them honestly.
噢 Oh!
嗨 Hey!
谢谢 Thank you.
-嘿 我的在哪里 - Hey, where's mine? -你看 它就在这儿呢 - There you go, it's right over here.
它们喜欢你 They liked you.
嘿嘿 我学会了一些犹太语 Hey, hey... I learned some Jewish.
-恩？ - Uh'huh? -说犹太语 - [talking jewish]
我有一只黄色的狗狗吗？你没有一只狗 I have a yellow dog? You don't even have a dog.
我在说啥？ Is that what I said?
那位女士在市场欺骗我 That lady in the market tricked me.
噢 我 Oh, I...
我觉得 我们应该结婚了 I think we should get married.
-啥？ - What? -我不想等待很久 - And I don't wanna wait too long...
你扪心自问 for you to ask.
我只是说 我认为它看起来 I'm just saying, I think it looks...
太美丽了 pretty inevitable.
你也是这样认为的吗 You think so?
是的 我认为 我们可以让对方感到欢乐 Yeah, I do... I think we can make each other happy.
恩 Mmm.
Alex从来都不懂 Alex never understands...
我认为她做得好 thinks that she's doing me good...
把我从绝望中抢救出来 救我 snatching me from the jaws of despair, rescuing me.
但是每一次的记忆和故事都悄悄溜走了 But each time a memory or a story slinks away...
这需要更多的我和它 it takes more of me with it.
一切都是错误的 Everything is wrong.
在卧室 Alex在我的身边让我恐惧 The bedroom, Alex beside me, my panic.
Bella看到我在这里会怎样 How will Bella ever find me here?
除了这个奇怪的女人 Beside this strange woman...
说过这种话 speaking this language...
吃着奇怪的事物以及穿着破衣服 eating strange food, wearing these clothes...
-你好 - Hello. -祝贺你的书 - Congratulations on your book.
-罂粟种子 - Poppy seed. -罂粟种子 - Poppy seed.
Elaine 你是我的女神 Elaine, you're a goddess.
-给我你的外套 - Give me your coat. -好吧 - Okay.
Alex 他们在这里 Alex... they're here.
-孩子们怎样？ - How are the children? -啊 谁在乎？ - Ah, who cares?
只要有人照顾他们 As long as someone else was taking care of them.
-嗨 - Hi. -他在这 - There she is.
-你好 - Hello. -恩 - Mmm.
-嗨 - Hi. -嗨 - Hi.
你好吗 How are you?
啊哈 Aha!
-看 罂粟种子 - Poppy seed. -你最喜欢的 - Your favorite.
马上回来 Be right back.
所以 Maurice 博物馆可以吗 So, Maurice, how's the museum?
噢 你知道 这是古生物学 Oh, you know, It's paleontology.
这不是一个很迷人的.. It's not a very glamorous...
并不是这样说 Not that much to say.
好吧 别介意 Well, never mind...
我了解了足够的历史 就在家里 I get more than enough history right here at home.
-Alex？ - Alex? -恩 - Yeah.
也许我可以在厨房帮你一把 Maybe I could give you a hand in the kitchen.
当然 Sure.
还有这个捷克女人 他是一个农夫的妻子 And there was this Czech woman, a farmer's wife...
-恩 恩 - Mm-hmm. -她出生在一个犹太家庭 - she hid a family of Jews...
她甚至不认识任何人 people she barely even knew.
因为战争 几乎两年 都在喂养它们 Seven of them, for the entire war... almost two years, feeding them.
-到了战争结束 - At the end of the war... -jake - Jake...
才发现了她的丈夫 第一次 was the first time her husband found out about it. Just a second.
你认为他会为她骄傲对吗 You'd think he'd be proud of her, yes?
当然 Sure.
他发怒时打得她奄奄一息 He beat her so badly, she almost died.
Jake 也许你应该给Maurice休息一下 Jake, maybe you should just give Maurice a break.
- 谢谢你 我还好 - No, this is okay. - 不 你不好 - No, it's not.
你又没有嫁给他 If you're not married to him...
你没有必要一天二十四小时不停听这些话 you're not obligated to listen to this stuff 24 hours a day.
- Alex 真的 - Alex, really, it's... - 不 听我说Maurice - No, Maurice...
他的困扰也同时让你精神萎靡 It makes your brain explode... his obsession...
- 这些婆婆妈妈的话 - with these details... - Alex - Alex.
很下流知道吗 It's obscene.
你怎么了 What's going on?
放手 No. No!
"这一刻让我花了半天的时间 "The moment I spent half my day...
去冷静下来 crawling through misery to reach...
灯泡在头顶晃来晃去 阴影在我的眼前 vanishes under a bulb.The shadows slip away...
就像Alex 挥之不去 as Alex again barges in...
像她一样 无耻的招惹我 一次一次" with her shameless vitality".
你知道这些话对我的伤害有多大吗 Do you have any idea what this has been like for me?
我不能再忍受了 I can't take this anymore.
这就是你想要的结果 不是吗 This is what you want, isn't it?
做你想要 Then you can...
永远坐在那个阴凉的黑暗处 sit in the dark forever.
所以的反应亮光都会不见 Every trace of me will be gone...
我的衣服 闪到你的眼了 my clothes which you think are too flashy...
我的工作 也是低贱的 and my job which you think is trivial...
还有我的朋友 你能说出一个吗 and my friends whose names you can't even remember.
你是个忘恩负义的人 Jake You're ungrateful, Jake.
- Alex - Alex. - 你想怎么样 - What?
好吧 Right.
I tried to bury images...
to cover them up with distractions...
with attempts at love.
By day, I entered the world...
but at night, my mother, my father... Bella,,,
simply rose, shook the earth from their clothes...
and waited.
To live with ghosts requires solitude.
I know only fragments of what Athos contained.
Salt, olives...
vine leaves, sea foam...
a life spanning two wars and one love.
Elena.
Were there words that they regretted?
Did they imagine children?
When a man dies...
his secrets bond like crystals.
There is no one here.
You can come out.
You need some fresh air, Jakob.
Come out.
One day you have to come out.
At least we have this.
Your gums are bleeding.
I'll soak some bread in water for you.
Eat... eat.
And this?
Who is this?
Your father.
That's right.
Your Greek is still better than your English.
Hmm?
Oh, Nicolas... thought I'd lost it...
my brother.
I haven't seen this photograph for a long time.
He died at age of 18...
in a traffic accident.
Hmm.
Sometimes people die when it's not expected...
not just during wartime.
Come here.
No one will see you.
We're too high up.
My grandparents used to have a house...
on the island of Hydra, overlooking the sea.
Once when Nikos was a boy...
he folded a paper airplane...
and sent it over the edge.
It landed in the hat of a man drinking ouzo...
in a cafe near by the dock.
On the wings of the airplane...
my brother had written a note...
begging to be saved from a kidnapper.
And he described where he was being held captive.
Then... the police came to our house...
and Nikos laughed and laughed...
while my father...
chased him yelling, halfway down the hill.
It's all right! It's all right.
I'm here.
Don't be scared. Don't be scared.
- Good morning, Athos. - Good morning.
Where did you get these fish?
My nephew has a boat, he managed to hide them from the Nazis.
You know...
they made us take in a German officer.
He steals from us.
Everyday he takes something.
Knives, forks, needle and thread. Whatever he finds.
He brings home potatoes, butter, meat...
just for himself.
He forces me to serve him, while my family watches.
Are you sure you can spare these?
If we don't look after each other, who will?
I almost forgot.
I don't know if they'll fit.
They grow fast at his age.
Actually, he's hardly growing at all.
What is it?
It's just...
I don't know how to handle him.
He's not like other children.
He's different.
Don't say that.
He's a normal child.
He's just experienced things that no child should.
Maybe we can find a family to take him.
You've already done so much. If not for you, he'd be dead.
A few days after we left Poland,
the archeologioal site where I was working,
was destroyed by the Nazis.
They burned everything,
then shot five of my colleagues in the forest.
They others were sent to a camp.
If it wasn't for Jakob I'd be dead too.
We saved each other.
You are very good looking.
All the girls will want to marry you.
You understand what I'm saying, hmm?
You learn fast.
You're smart.
You're like a sponge.
Did Athos tell you he was married?
Hmm?
Her name was Eleni.
They were together only five years before she died.
He never told me.
Hmm... hm.
I'm only telling you Jakob...
so you know that Athos has also been through a lot.
He's strong in many ways,
but sometimes you might need to take care of him too.
Hmm?
You understand?
GROUNDWORK
Damned war!
Not even a decent cup of coffee.
Beethoven counted out exactly sixty beans...
for each cup of coffee.
Noodles and cheese...
or potatoes and fish... but not from the Danube...
were his favourite meals.
And he only drank spring water...
or beer.
That's enough of that.
Come here, little one.
To hell!
It's okay, it's Mrs. Serenou.
Something wrong?
I'm sorry...
I hate to ask. You know my daughter...
She's married to a Jew.
They'd be grateful if they could stay the night.
The Gestapo ordered the mayor...
to write down the name of every Jew on the island.
The mayor took the list to the Archbishop, who said:
Burn it.
I'm sorry, it's not much.
Please don't apologize.
Almost everyone managed to escape.
The Jewish ghetto is empty.
This morning, the few Jews who were left...
were rounded up at gunpoint...
then herded onto a truck and taken away.
What happened to them?
Can he understand us?
Maybe we shouldn't...
He's already heard so much.
I'm sorry to ask you this, but...
we left some things hidden in our house.
It's to dangerous for us to go back. Could you perhaps...
Of course... I'll do it.
Thank you.
Be careful.
I have to go into town.
Why?
Hey... don't worry.
I'll be all right.
We know that many of the Jews have escaped and are hiding somewhere...
The Germans know...
that many Jews have escaped or are in hiding.
and we know that a lot of you people did help them to escape...
also helping them to hide at this moment.
They know that many of you have helped them...
or hiding them.
Everybody has to stay in the square, while we're searching every house...
right now everyone's a suspect, until we find out who's been helping them.
As suspects, your homes will be searched.
This has gone to far.
Do you think, I'll stand here like a criminal?
- Stop! Stop! - I won't be humiliated any longer.
Stop! Don't walk away!
- Stop! - Fire!
Come here.
Can you read this?
It belongs to Ioannis and Allegra.
Talk to me, Jakob.
Talk to me.
Jakob.
Jakob! Jakob.
Stop, Jakob!
Stop! Stop!
Stop! Jakob!
Oh...
You are back.
It's over.
Come outside.
It's safe now.
This is a letter, I received a few months ago.
It's invitation to teach in Canada.
See the stamp?
Mountain...
Snow...
When?
As soon... huh, as I get a visa.
Jakob.
Jakob!
Jakob. Ja...
Jakob, what's the matter?
You're going to leave me!
Dummy!
We're going to Canada together!
You're putting on some weight, finally.
That the dead may drink.
That the dead may not go hungry.
For your parents.
For Bella.
For all who have no one to recall their names.
And for Eleni.
How do you know about Eleni?
Tell me.
Jakob...
it may not mean anything to you now...
but you must try to be buried...
in ground that will remember you.
I long for the loss of memory.
Though I have tried to will my parents...
and Bella from my sleep...
this will amounts to nothing...
for my mind betrays me in a second.
I've crossed an ocean and lived many years without them...
yet I can feel Bella抯 gentle fingers on my back...
my father's hand on my head...
and suddenly I抦 afraid...
and turn around in empty rooms.
How are your parents?
Ben: They're fine.
- How are you? - I'm all right, I guess.
- I start university next Year. - I know, that's good.
- I'm dating someone. - Oh, really?
- Is she here? - No.
Oh.
What's her name?
- Naomi. - Ah.
An excellent name.
- Do you know what it means? - No, I don't.
In Hebrew, it means "Full of Grace".
I didn't expect you to be here.
Do you still think it's true, that I...
wanted to change you?
I mean, it's in the book, so I suppose you do.
Alex, if it hadn't been for you...
I never would've written the book.
I would never have... Gone to Greece.
I don't know if that's true.
Well, I...
So what now?
I'm going to teach here for a few months every year...
when I抦 not on the island.
- Are you seeing anybody? - Uh, no.
- You? - Sort of.
He's a musician.
Aren't you lonely?
Yeah. Same old Jake.
You've written a very good book.
You should be proud.
From Mr. Taylor, my new colleague.
It's invitation... to party.
Look how popular we are already.
Yiddish-speaking neighbours.
How do you like that?
Electricity.
Running water.
It's like living in hotel.
I was looking forward to snow...
but there is hardly any at all.
You're like a lot...
you've got a fascination with the cold.
Well, a few winters here, will change that, I抦 sure.
Excuse me.
I hope you're having a good time.
I'm sorry there aren't more children here.
Thank you, it's very nice.
Oh, wait... I have something for you.
I know you're not...
I mean...
well, everyone should be able to take part in a celebration.
Right?
Thank you... you're much too kind.
Oh! I almost forgot.
Jakob...
why don't you pose with Athos?
Oh. Hmm.
Come.
Good.
Smile.
Oh, thanks, Jakob.
Too much champagne.
I'll feel better in the morning.
Mmm!
Ah, excellent.
I taught you well.
You didn't open your present.
What do you think it is?
Refrigerator?
Locomotive?
A frog?
Open it.
Put it on.
Ah... looks good on you.
What is it?
My god.
Stay where you are.
Oh... careful.
Now what?
I'm... um, I抦 sorry to bother you.
- Everything all right? - Ah...
This crazy storm.
Do you want to come in?
Ohh, no, no, no, no. Thank you... Um...
I was wondering if... if you had any extra candles?
Of course... take this one.
- I'll bring you some more. - Thank you.
I'm, uh, sorry to bother you.
It's... it's...
it's my husband... he...
What is it?
Oh, he doesn't take too well to, huh...
I shouldn't leave him alone too long.
Uh'hm.
Do you need matches too?
You speak Yiddish?
Are you afraid?
It's just a little rain.
At least the gas stove works.
Lemon or milk?
Lemon.
Like all the greeners.
Shall we take them their tea?
Sure.
No.
Let them wait.
My mother always said, a house is like a human body.
And the kitchen...
the kitchen is the heart.
It's true, isn't it?
You'll come visit again soon?
It's so nice to have a young man around.
So, this book you're writing.
"Bearing False Witness".
But it's not really a book yet.
Just a lot of notes, ideas.
Who knows if I ever finish it.
And, uh, it's about what happened during the war?
Well, uh, it's about the abuse of history.
It starts, uh, with Biskupin in Poland...
where I met Jakob.
10 years ago, a river dried up there...
and people started finding artifacts.
But then the Nazis came and they buried everything.
As far as they were concerned...
there couldn't possibly be an advanced culture...
that they didn't create.
So they destroyed the evidence.
It's a good thing you're doing.
Already, people say the things I lived through...
never happened.
You'd think they'd at least wait a few years...
until we're all dead.
The mitzvah that you did...
for that boy...
it's a blessed thing.
Did you know...
that Joseph was a conductor in Warsaw...
- Huh. - Before the war?
A very good conductor.
Oh, not that good.
And he's a very good piano teacher too.
Parents pay me...
and children resent me.
Is that good teaching?
Don't listen to him.
- Thank you. - My Sara...
she was a singer.
Not bad either.
Now I sell dry goods in the market.
I'm the singing dry goods lady.
Things change.
My sister played the piano.
Really?
Was she good?
Some more sugar.
You eat so slowly...
like an aristocrat.
I think about her too.
You think she's dead.
I don't know, Jakob.
Maybe it's better to hope.
Listen... when I feel things...
building up inside me, I write.
You have also something to express.
So...
you will write too.
Write what?
What you must.
There is an old saying:
"The great mystery of wood is not that it burns...
but that it floats".
Understand?
No.
There is a good and bad side to everything.
You can choose to see what destroys something...
or what saves it.
"There is earth that never leaves your hands...
rain that never leaves your bones".
"At night, memory roams your skin".
"While you sleep, the sea floods your house".
"You wake in the bog...
burning with the smell of earth"
"Nothing releases you...
not death in the dream, not waking".
"This is how one becomes undone, by a smell...
a word, a place...
a photo of a mountain of shoes".
"By love that closes its mouth before calling a name".
Jakob, it's beautiful.
Beautiful.
Ohh, damn you.
Look at us, huh?
Uh?... Ah'hah.
The two bachelors crying into our coffees.
Another cup?
No, thanks.
Okay.
Then I抦 going to do some work of my own.
Ben, it's getting late.
Your parents will think we kidnapped you.
I know you're not asleep.
Come on, Ben.
Come on, time for bed.
Ah, there you are.
Did he fall asleep?
Come on, now, time for bed.
Don't make me go.
Ben.
Come on, Ben. Ben, Ben.
Come on.
Okay... go on.
Good night.
You always know, Jakob.
If he ever gives you any trouble...
you just send him back, huh?
- He can overstay his welcome. - It's no trouble.
- Good night. - Good night.
You should rest. It's not good for you...
to work night after night like this.
There is an old Greek saying.
"Light your candle before night overtakes you".
You have a saying for everything.
Yes...
I do.
That was a beautiful ceremony.
So many people.
Yeah.
You know, when you first came here...
you were what... 11?
- Mmm-hmm. - Just a little bit older than Ben.
Hey! What's this?
An apple.
Is an apple food?
Why do you throw it away?
I don't want the other half.
Can you imagine?
Take it.
I said take it!
During the war...
everything had value, no matter how small.
A button, a pencil, a spoon!
Not to mention the things that could make you weep.
A good pair of shoes.
Hot water, a scrap of food.
Isn't that right, Jakob?
Now my own son throws away an apple.
Joseph.
Well, if my only son doesn't even understand the value of things...
why did we even survive?
I'm sorry.
Why don't you play something?
I know I have written to you before.
This letter is in regards to a missing person.
First name Bella... last name Beer.
Biskupin, Poland, 1942.
Age fifteen.
I'm seeking any information...
regarding her possible whereabouts...
Please post the following every Friday for one year.
I know the records are incomplete...
I know I have written to you before.
Check your list, taking into account...
possible variations of spelling.
First name Bella, last name Beer.
Age fifteen.
Jakob...
I want to tell you something.
Hello?
Jakob?
It's Ben, how are you?
Oh, hi, Ben. Uh, I抦 fine.
- I'm just sleeping. - We were thinking of you.
How are things in Hydra?
Good... how's Naomi?
- She's fine. - And your dad?
How's he, since...
He's okay.
Well, I抣l be seeing him soon.
I'll be back for class, in a couple of weeks.
- That soon? - Yeah.
Okay, hang on.
- Jakob! - Hi, Naomi.
Good to hear your voice.
Well, say you'll come to dinner.
Oh yes, of course, soon as I get back.
Great.
Finally!
How was your trip?
Oh, you remembered my olive oil.
How could I forget?
Hi!
Welcome back.
Listen, there's this woman from the museum knows.
She's a curator, very smart.
Oh, no!
All right, then.
"All right", what?
Invite her over sometime.
Uh'hu...
Well, actually, she already did.
Jakob... Michaela.
Naomi抯 had us on her thesis diet for months now.
When I was doing the Russians...
all we ever ate was cabbage soup and perigees.
Then it was the Latin Americans.
Empanadas, rice, beans.
And now it's Sweden.
And every other day, we're eating salted fish.
That's not true!
And... what's wrong with salted fish anyway?
You know, when I was small...
I was obsessed with salt.
I think it started because we traveled so much...
and everywhere, I kept hearing about salt.
City of salt.
Road of salt.
And in the Sahara, there were entire cities built of salt.
I used to imagine caravans...
weighed down with thick cakes of salt.
I'm talking too much.
So, Naomi.
- How's your project? - Um, good.
I... Collect songs and lullabies fom everywhere in the world.
Become a kind of a mania with me.
A song for every occasion... or person.
By now I can match a song or a ballad to anyone.
- What about Jak... - What about Mich...
What about Jakob?
- What about Michaela? - Jakob. No!
No, I don't...
Try, try. Um...
Well, for you, I... I would have to say, "Moorsoldaten"...
Hmm...
"The peat bog soldiers".
Peat bog.
You're very good.
Do you know the song?
Oh, yeah.
- It's... well, it's... - Huh...
it was written by prisoners during the war.
And they weren't allowed to sing anything but marching songs...
while they were working...
so they wrote something that sounded like a marching song...
but...
Well, really, it's a song about hope.
Sing it.
Uh...
"Wherever the eye may wonder...
heath and bog everywhere".
"Birdsongs brings no solace...
and trees stand bare".
Very good.
So, you still live in Greece.
Back and forth.
I write there, teach here.
How long have you known Naomi?
Well, to tell you the truth, not that long.
I've only been at the museum a few months.
How long have you known each other?
Well, I抳e known Ben all his life, really.
I was there when he was born.
His parents lived in the apartment next to ours.
Ben was very premature.
And when his mother went into labor...
His father came running Into our apartment in a panic.
And Athos, my godfather, was away at a conference...
so I called the ambulance and...
anyway, I ended up being at the hospital when she gave birth.
When they brought him from the delivery room...
He weighed less than three pounds.
So small.
In this almost transparent body.
He was like a spirit.
Not even a person.
No bigger than my hand.
Take off your coat.
I'll make some tea.
Oh, this is...
From my mother's side of the family.
She's Russian, he's Spanish.
Fabulous arguments, as you can imagine.
And they used to go on for hours.
What stamina.
Hmm.
What?
Lemon.
Why? You... you want milk?
No.
Even the horror of the past...
you try to reinvent it and re-imagine it.
Like my grandmother.
Yeah, sort of.
Not always so amusingly.
Take specific moments and...
your mind fills in the gaps.
I've spent years trying to imagine...
Bella's route from the house.
Where did she die?
In the street? In the train?
In the barracks?
You try to reconstruct...
visualize every possible scenario.
I used to dream that maybe she escaped.
I haven't dreamt that in a long time.
I also used to wonder...
what might have happened if I抎 stayed.
Waited in the house instead of running away.
Maybe she came back.
There's a poem by Akhmatova.
"You are many years late...
how happy I am io see you".
Joseph?
We shouldn't tell the rabbi...
or they won't let him into the cemetery.
At least he waited 'till my mother died.
I still can't believe he would do that...
after everything he went through.
Your father suffered a lot, Ben.
He didn't suffer.
He was impenetrable.
Can I ask you something?
I don't understand how you could have gone through what you did...
and still be so generous,
Still write the things you do.
I used to think that if I understood you...
I could understand my father better.
But it's like you're from different worlds.
Well, I don't think so.
Your father told me not long ago...
that he still would dream...
about his mother and father.
The smallest things.
The detail of his mother's coat, a button...
his father's shoes, outside in the rain.
And that when he woke up in the morning...
old as he was...
he was still crying.
Jakob...
I want to tell you something.
The mistery of wood is not that it burns...
but that it floats.
Go, Jakob.
After years of trying to be closer to them...
I now fear that I am only haunting...
my parents and Bella with my calling,
Startling them awake in their black beds.
All the years I抳e felt Bella entreating me...
filled with her loneliness...
I have misunderstood her signals.
Like other ghosts, she whispers...
not for me to join her...
but so that when I'm close enough...
she can push me back into the world.
Whoa!
Ah!
Mmm.
Garlic.
And, uh...
Basil.
Mmm. Sweat.
Honey.
Mm, oh, coconut oil.
Salt.
Read it.
You sure?
"I did not witness the most important events of my life".
My deepest story must be told by a blind man...
from behind a wall, from underground...
from the corner of a small house on a small island...
that juts like a bone from the skin of sea.
While I hid in the radiant light of Athos' island...
thousands suffocated in darkness.
While I hid in the luxury of a room...
thousands were stuffed into crawlspaces...
stables, pigsties.
While I was learning Greek and English...
learning geology And poetry...
Jews were filling the corners and cracks of Europe.
I didn't know that while I listened to stories of explorers...
a Jew could be purchased for a quart of brandy...
for sugar, cigarettes.
What do our bodies make us believe?
That we're never ourselves, until we contain two souls.
Now I抦 not afraid when harvesting darkness.
Night after night it is happiness that wakes me.
There is room at last for everyone I have ever loved.
As Michaela approaches, I shake like a compass needle...
feeling for the first time a future...
my words, my life, no longer separate...
after decades of hiding in my skin.
"Here is a woman who will slowly undress my spirit...
bring my body to belief".
We're gonna be late.
Coming.
Your Heart's desire is she's a girl, Bella if he's a boy, Bela.
"Each morning I write these words for you all...
for Bella and Athos and Elena, for Alex...
for Joseph and Sara, for...
Ben and Naomi, for Michaela.
Michaela.
I can describe what her wrists look like...
or how her hair grows at the back of her neck.
But more, I know what she remembers.
I know her memories.
I pray that soon my wife will feel new breath inside her own.
I pray and press my head against her side, and whisper a story.
Child I long for, child I dream...
if we conceive you, think of us sometimes...
your mother and me, when it rains.
And one day, when you've almost forgotten...
I pray you'll let us return.
That through an open window, even in the middle of a city...
the sea air of our marriage will find you.
I pray that one day...
in a room lit only by night snow...
you will suddenly know how miraculous...
is your parents' love for each other.
My son, my daughter...
Bella.
Bela.
If we conceive you...
know that once I was lost in a forest.
I was so afraid...
my blood pounded in my chest...
and I knew my heartstrings would soon be exhausted.
I saved myself without thinking.
I grasped the two syllables closest to me...
and replaced my heartbeat with your name.
Bella.
Now I see that I must give what I most need".