"Berlin, 14 May 2005.
Today I decided to resign from my position
as head of the biotechnology institute.
I'm just wasting my time here. As a scientist,
I have to go back to the origin of my interest, to that...
innermost force, which binds the world together.
Back to the elementary.
I have to resume the research that I interrupted in Ireland...
3 years ago. The artificial reproduction of organisms...
without sexual contact.
Is it desirable...
It is desirable for a scientist to ascertain...
the feasibility. Truth is like an elementary particle.
It can't be split into smaller parts."
You don't need to pass grade school to do the job we're doing here.
Anyone who's on the ball leaves after 2 years, like you.
- Here's to tenured positions! - Cheers!
It's a pity you're leaving. To me you were always like...
a Niels Bohr or a Heisenberg:
A person of exceptional intellectual ability,
someone with a totally unique way of thinking.
Anyway... it'll be a loss for all of us.
Especially for me, I suppose. I always admired you.
So what are your plans now? To go back to Ireland?
I'm not sure yet. I need to think things over first.
Has it anything to do with that work that you never published?
Maybe. That too. It bothers me that I never finished it.
Sure, I understand. You are...
one of those rare people, who have that thirst for knowledge.
I always thought I had it, too. But I never went far enough.
- One must be willing to go very far. - That's exactly right.
Yes!
The thirst for knowledge!
Only a few people have it. But those few...
are the most important power in the world. They keep on researching...
until one day they possess the key to rational knowledge.
Nothing in the history of humanity was ever more important...
than the need for rational knowledge.
Western civilization has sacrificed everything to that need...
Its happiness, its hopes, its religion and ultimately: Its life.
You were the only one who never bored me.
"Dear Mr. Djerzinski. Due to construction of the new B17 road,
your grandmother Wilhelmine's grave must be moved..."
"...in the pleated maze of narrow Old Town alleyways,
where even the eerie has its charms,
I happily give myself up to the game of chance...
and gaze as women pass, old and tired of life..."
- Want to tell me your problem, Ben? - Nothing. What problem?
- You think Baudelaire's funny? - No, not at all.
Good. Would someone like to comment?
- Johanna please. - I think...
eroticism was a driving force for Baudelaire's creativity,
but that it made him lonely at the same time.
I'd say these lines reveal the classic, tragic core...
of male fate.
Very interesting comments. Would anyone like to add to that?
Did you get my essay?
Mr. Klement? What's the matter?
- Well? Did you? - Did I what?
Read my essay?
- Uh, yes, of course. - Well?
It was very good, exceptional. Really good. Very sensitive.
Have you thought about becoming a writer?
- It never occurred to me. - You've got the talent.
Your essays are really... very good.
- Goodbye. - Bye.
Won't you at least dance with me once?
Come on.
I'll go back then.
"We envy and admire the Negroes for we want to become like them:
Animals with a long cock
and a tiny reptilian brain..."
Come here.
"The Negroes are still in the Stone Age. They can't acquire...
our knowledge, they have no clue about hygiene...
and they also spread AIDS."
You're a true racist,
I can tell. You're full of it. That's good.
Peng, Peng, Peng, Peng, Peng!
The stuff about Negroes is great. It's strong,
crazy, daring. You're talented.
- What about my essay on families? - That's very good too.
You're a reactionary.
All great writers were reactionaries: Benn, Goethe,
Thomas Mann, Dostoyevsky. But one has to fuck too, right?
Sex parties... that's important.
- So what do we do with this? - Well, I thought...
you might publish it.
My good man, what were you thinking?
The Third Reich is history. An article like this...
could get me in real trouble. Do you think...
I haven't got enough trouble as it is? Do you think I can do whatever I like...
just because I work for Rowohlt?
Have you got anything else?
Hey, dear brother!
- How are you? - Right now things suck.
- What's up? - Who cares. How are things with you?
My parakeet died today.
- My sympathy. What did you do? - I threw him in the garbage.
What else could you have done? Say mass?
I recently gave Anne a silver garter belt.
She disappeared into the bedroom.
- I'm ready, darling! - I followed her.
I knew right away it was going to fizzle.
Just no way I could get it up.
She's a lousy cock-sucker, I felt her teeth, and she's got cellulite.
Should I tell her to get rid of her stretch-marks?
Sorry for rattling on. I'm just so tired...
of jerking off. I'll be 40 soon.
Once you start working, every year's the same.
The only events left in your life are the medical kind.
- I'm already dead, pal. Cheers! - Cheers.
That...
was really a very good essay.
Thank you.
I'm going now.
- How much did you give him? - Enough.
You'll be fine in a minute.
I can't go home.
I'll kill myself. I'll really kill myself.
Mr. Klement, calm down, okay?
You can stay here. Listen to me,
you can stay here.
My mother abandoned me when I was 2,
because of all that hippy shit.
My half-brother too.
- She ran off to Poona. - Where did you grow up?
With my grandmother.
- What about your grandfather? - He died just after I arrived,
picking mushrooms in the forest.
When they found him 3 days later, the body had started to decompose.
First a corpse attracts certain flies: Musca,
Curtoneva. When decomposition starts, more turn up,
especially Lucilia and Calliphora. And these...
These mites, named after Italian starlets,
make the cadaver grow more...
and more liquefied. The fermentation and decomposition
- produce butyric acid and ammonia... - Bruno!
- Calm down, okay? - Sorry. But my mother...
didn't even get in touch...
when my grandfather died.
Even though my grandmother called her in Poona several times.
It made her very sad, you see.
I loved my grandmother very much.
How long were you at your grandmother's?
Until I... Until she died. Until I was thirteen.
It happened in the kitchen.
She pulled the handle down.
Fucking boiling hot soup all over her head!
My grandmother was an excellent cook.
She always made me five-course dinners. That day she was making...
stuffed peppers, no... marinated peppers, stuffed zucchinis, rabbit...
with couscous,
followed by nougat with mascarpone.
- And what happened after she died? - They stuck me in boarding school.
And what was that like?
- Open your mouth or I'll cut your balls off! - No...
Yes, I understand. And you never saw your mother?
Yes, I did. She came back to Germany from Poona every year.
He picked me up from boarding school and took me to one of those hippy communes.
Hey Baby.
- This is Bruno. - Hey, Bruno.
I'm Jane's lover. I want you to feel free.
Throw off the shackles of civilization. You can do that here. Be free.
Okay?
I knew I'd never be like them.
Beautiful creatures.
I'd never make the grade.
At the end of my vacation I crept into Jane's room.
I jerked off on my mother.
And this fucking cat was watching me the whole time.
But when I came,
it suddenly closed its eyes.
I picked up a stone, went over...
and smashed its fucking skull.
That was the last day of my vacation with mother.
By the way, you have a brother.
- What d'you mean, I have a brother? - Okay, a half-brother.
- And why didn't anyone tell me? - Lighten up.
Want to meet him? He's sort of a math genius.
Come on, let's go see him. He lives nearby with his grandmother.
- Hello Michael! - Hello.
My God, you've grown up. Don't you recognize me?
Of course.
- Do you like the Stones? - Thanks.
This is Bruno. Your half-brother. I thought it's time...
you two should meet. Come on! I would have got you two together...
ages ago, but it was too complicated.
Hi.
I'll let you two get acquainted.
I'll be back in an hour, okay?
Go on! Don't be so uncommunicative!
There's lots to talk about.
Bruno supports the release of all Red Army Faction prisoners.
What about you?
Oh...
well... Make a bit of an effort, okay?
Do you want to come in?
- Looks really complicated. - It's not that bad.
I'm not that good at math.
Huxley's "Brave New World". I just read that.
Really? And?
- Yeah, it was quite okay. - I think it's a really important book.
I'm convinced that our society
is moving towards exactly...
what Huxley describes in his book. Stricter controls on reproduction...
will one day lead to a total separation of procreation and sex,
resulting in artificial human reproduction.
- It says that? - That's exactly what we're striving for,
only so far unsuccessfully.
- Hi. - Hi.
Bruno, my half-brother. Annabelle.
- I didn't know you had a brother. - Neither did I until just now.
- Want to go outside for a while? - We can't.
- Hello! Who are you? - Annabelle.
Your girlfriend? I understand: You haven't been intimate yet.
Don't be ashamed, sex is beautiful:
Treat it naturally, to maximize...
your partner's enjoyment. Well, I must get Bruno back to boarding school...
and be in Frankfurt in 3 hours. My flight to Bombay leaves at 8.
Have you got my new number in Poona?
I'll write it down for you.
You can reach me there. So did you two get to know each other a bit?
- Okay. - Okay.
Bye, Annabelle. And don't forget to use the pill.
It's vital to your emancipation.
- And how was your first relationship? - My first relationship?
It was at my grandma's funeral.
- So, sweetie, isn't that nice? - Her name was Annick.
Do you like that?
Bruno, it's been a long session.
I think we should finish for now, okay?
Try to get some rest, and we'll meet again...
- in 3 days. Alright? - Okay.
Please go now.
Thank you, Dr. Schäfer.
There she is. It's a disgrace... having to rebury her because of a road.
Don't look.
I have to break open the coffin.
I told you not to look! It's always the same.
They always look. A coffin like that can't last 20 years.
The headstone will be moved tomorrow. I'll show you the new grave.
You have to come and sign the register.
Michael!
- Hello, Mrs. Stevens! - What a surprise!
- I was just... - Come in!
- I don't want to disturb you. - Really! Come in!
Well! How nice!
- Just look who's here! - Michael,
- what are you doing here? - Hello, Mr. Stevens.
- You look well. - Thanks. You too. How are you?
The same.
- Hello Michael. - Hello Annabelle.
You'll stay for dinner, won't you? We're having roast pork.
- Sure. - Want a drink? A beer?
Please.
Here.
They were moving my grandmother's grave so I thought I'd stop by.
Come into the kitchen and we can catch up.
It's a coincidence that I'm here. I just came to help my mother.
I've read about you in the papers. You've become famous.
- What do you do? - I live in Berlin too. I'm a librarian.
Are those the same glasses?
Why didn't you answer my letters?
I used to hate you for that.
It was all so long ago, but I still think about it sometimes.
I read them just a few days ago.
Really?
With Grandma. You had just arrived here.
It was before we started to school.
Oh God, look how Bruno was always trying to look cool.
With those awful shoes on.
Why didn't you ever kiss me?
Would you perhaps like to kiss me now?
I think I would.
- Your brother is here. - Michael.
Hi, Bruno.
I'd never have thought Mum would die here in Germany. Why didn't the old slut...
stay in Poona? Apparently she converted to Islam,
inspired by some Sufi mystic shit.
Now she's shacked up with some weirdos in an abandoned house.
Real hippies.
Hard to believe they still exist, yet their numbers are growing.
With all the fucking unemployment, they're thriving.
- Jane is in there. - Thanks.
You want to be cremated? Okay.
You'll be cremated when this is over.
And what's left of you goes in a bag!
I think she got that.
She wanted to stay young, that's all. Didn't want...
her kids reminding her she was from another generation.
What's so bad about that?
Everyone has come,
everyone is here!
When she has heard this song,
she will die, mommy dear!
Everyone has come,
everyone is here!
From Galilee...
and Canada too...
I think she's dead.
- Are you okay at the clinic? - Yeah, it's cool. I have my lithium.
- Should I take you somewhere? - I'm off to Rostock now, to a brothel.
I'll go back to the clinic tomorrow.
There are loads of brothels in Rostock.
I won't be able to get it up because of the fucking lithium, but never mind.
Take care, Bruno.
Take care, old pal.
Help yourself.
It's funny, isn't it?
I always thought you'd be married with kids and all.
It never would've occurred to me you might be alone.
Well, I never had much luck with men.
I slept with dozens of men, but none of them are worth...
remembering.
Does my frankness bother you?
It began with the guy I danced with that evening.
Do you remember? I wasn't remotely in love with him.
But after you left I met him regularly.
It went on for two years: At 19...
I got pregnant and had an abortion.
I never saw the guy again.
He joined a satanic cult somewhere in California.
Two years ago I saw a TV report about snuff films.
They'd just arrested him. He'd been cutting women's limbs off.
Just imagine, if you'd had his child.
Anyway... I've been off men for a while now.
I was tired of being treated...
like some piece of meat. I tried women too,
but that didn't work out either.
So now I spend my evenings here, reading and drinking tea.
Don't worry. I've got used to being alone.
Sometimes I could use a man, it's true. I'm scared at night...
and I can't get to sleep. Tranquillizers...
and sleeping pills sometimes just aren't enough.
I still can't believe we're sitting here together.
Neither can I.
That's at my grandma's, isn't it?
I'm going to show you a secret, but promise you won't laugh.
I promise.
Sit down. Here.
I kept everything.
For years I kept an album.
Every postcard you ever sent me.
Even our school IDs.
"Dear Dr. Sommer, I'm 15 and in love with a boy.
I've known him since I was little. I'm still young but I think...
I want to spend my whole life with him. But I'm a bit worried...
because he won't kiss me. Could he be...
a late-developer? Annabelle S. Winzhofen"
- Did you really write that? - You know what his answer was?
"Dear Annabelle, I don't mean to upset you,
but it's very rare for a childhood friend to become a girl's boyfriend.
He's more likely to become a friend, a loyal friend,
who can help you deal with feelings roused
by your first flirts." Sad, huh?
- What he wrote was dead wrong. - But it came true anyway.
And what about you and women?
- Not so great. - In what way?
Well...
- But you had lovers? - I've...
I've...
You've never ever slept with a woman?
No.
You look like you did back then.
You feel like you did then.
You can't imagine how long I was in love with you.
I think it started when I was 5.
It never really stopped.
Hi...
- You look good. Nice suit. - C&A summer sale.
I thought I'd dress like a civil servant to get laid more.
- Civil servants are more liberal. - So you're...
- working on the curriculum committee? - I have no choice.
- I'm going on vacation first. - Where to?
Some camp. The catalogue says there's a high woman ratio.
Maybe I'll get lucky. It's a kind of nudist camp...
with spiritual courses and stuff.
With my luck they're all ecofreaks.
But at least they aren't so prudish.
- Anyway, something'll come together. - Good luck.
Thanks.
Anne wants a divorce.
He's moved out with the baby.
Shit!
I really wanted...
I really wanted to be a good father.
Shit! Two more shots, please.
- Go away. I'm not interested. - Dad! It's me... Bruno.
- Don't you recognize me? - Of course, Bruno...