25
X Distribution presents
An X Films Creative Pool Production
In Co-Production with the West German Broadcasting Company
Cooperating with Film Foundation North-Rhein Westfalia Film Supporting Institute Filmboard Berlin Brandenburg BKM
Our holiday home, Summer 1978
Look here. Here into the camera.
Hands off!
Alex, hold on! - Dad, help me!
Slowly, cautiously, almost gently...
the giant colossus... is placed on the launch site.
Here on the launch site the result of the great...
community work is demonstrated. If you want an example to emphasize the famous word:
everyone supplies quality to everyone... - There he is!
... here it can be seen in perfection.
I report: I am ready for the flight with spaceship SOJUS 31...
as a member of the international crew.
On August 26, 1978, we had reached international standing.
Sigmund Jahn, citizen of the GDR, was the first German who ever went into space.
However, on this day our family went really up in smoke.
This is your husband's third stay in a capitalistic country.
He stands in for his boss, professor Klinger.
Do you know of any contacts in the West your husband might have?. - No.
Mrs Kerner, how would you describe the state of your marriage?
Has your husband ever talked to you about escape from the Republic?
Mrs Kerner... Has he talked to you about that?
Allow me to present the Central Committee of the communist party...
Get lost! Leave me alone!
While Sigmund Jahn bravely represented the GDR in the depths of space,
my procreator let a class enemy in a capitalistic country...
screw his brains out. He never came back.
My mother became so sad, that she stopped talking.
She just didn't talk anymore. Not to us, not to others.
Mum, please come back. It's so boring at Mrs. Schafer's.
Mum, I love you.
The Sandman excellently adapted to the conditions in space.
But the biggest surprise was that he became very well acquainted...
...with Mascha.
We even had a cosmic marriage on board.
In a few minutes, the sandman and Mascha will come back to Earth.
I hope it was relayed, so that you could see it clearly.
Mother came back after 8 weeks. It was as if she had been transformed.
Surprise! - My sweeties!
My Alex. My little cosmonaut.
(Caption) Pioneer Park, Spring 1979 - We never talked about father again.
From this moment on, my mother got married to our socialist Fatherland.
Our home...
is not only the towns and villages...
As this relation was not a sexual one, there was a lot of vigour and energy left...
for us kids and the socialist daily routine.
... is the grass on the sward, the corn on the field and the birds...
in the air and the animals on the ground...
My mother became promoter of the progress of society.
A passionate activist for the simple needs of the people
and against the small injustices of life. - Input.
Concerning: Gaudily colourful...
maternity dresses. Full-stop.
And now a report on the solemn honouring... - This is it!
Blue- and and white-collar workers, scientists and joint farmers,
artists and veteran workers came to Berlin today,
to receive the highest honourings of our country in the Council of State.
to receive the highest honourings of our country.
That's you, Mum!
... and recognition of outstanding merits during the building up...
and development of the socialist social order.
On the eve of the national holiday...
the CC of the SUG traditionally rewards men and women of merit.
After a long, untiring training it was time. I, Alex Kerner,
was the second German to go to space. Deeper and further than any man before.
Rocket launched!
I imaged how I would explore the riddles of the cosmos for the good of humanity,
how I would look down to our planet and how I would proudly wave to my mother.
Rocket launched!
10 years later - October 7, 1989.
Test, one, two...
The GDR had its 40th anniversary.
I had a day off with the PGH TV workshop "Adolf Hennecke"...
and felt as if I was on the climax of my male personal magnetism.
Left, two, three!
Time smelt of change, while an oversized rifle association...
had its last performance in front of our house.
Alex!
What?
Alex, there's a lass out there. Should I send her away?
Who is she? - No idea.
But she makes a good impression.
Have you slept in your clothes again?
Where's the visitor?
The visitor's name is Paula... and it's a date, as agreed. Here you are.
Oh no! - Oh yes, little brother.
Can't your ex-boyfriend take care of her? - He's on standby duty today.
We stopped at: ...but a woman of a certain age...
... can't and won't wear the panties, that are offered.
Fullstop. Even in the GDR, there are not only young princesses on ice and...
exquisitly slim comrades. Full-stop. - That's good.
You're not downstairs? It's already started. - Impossible to overhear!
Well hurry up then. It could be the last time with these members.
Where's Paula? - Yeah, where is she? Sleeping again?
Maybe I'll see your mother on TV. - In the palace?
You'll have to look for her with a magnifying glass.
I don't really know if I'll go there. All of the party's bigwigs are there.
I don't know anyone. Although... I'd like to see Gorbatschow at close range this once.
There they are celebrating themselves, all the old bastards.
Well you don't have to watch. - Mum, don't you notice what's happening there?
And you, what do you want? Do a bunk?
Nothing will change if they all go away. Let's go on.
It cannot be possible, that the stouter...
...workers and farmer's wifes... are punished by the fashion combinates...
...after the 40th year of the existence of our Republic!
With socalist salutations...
Hanna Schafer.
In the evening of October 7, 1989 several hundred people united...
for an evening walk, to promote...
the idea of walking without borders.
Freedom of the press! Freedom of the press!
Cough! Cough hard!
Everything alright?
You alright? - Thank you!
There're even more Greens.
Alright already!
Form a chain!
No violence! No violence!
You might make it if you take the subway.
What's your name?
La...
Stop it!
Watch out!
That's my mum lying there! - Stand still! - My mum's lying there!
Let me go, you asshole! That's my mu......
Alexander Kerner? - Yes?
Your mother.
What about mother?
What is it?
Mum had a heart attack.
Unfortunately, the resuscitation attempts were carried out very late. Your mother's in a coma.
When can we talk to her? - Alex, Mum's in a coma!
Mr. Kerner, we don't know yet, whether or not your mother will ever wake up again.
Can you hear me, Mum?
You've got to wake up!
But mother was fast asleep. In her deep, neverending sleep...
she circled like a satellite around the events happening...
on our little planet in our even smaller Republic.
The 9th Convention agreed to Honecker's request, to relieve him of his duties...
because of health problems and thanked him for his political life's work.
Congratulations!
Her sleep obscured the retirement of the esteemed comrade Erich Honecker,
General Secretary of the CC of the SUG and Chairman of the GDR's council of state.
(Reporter) Berlin. This evening the Wall fell.
(German National Anthem) Unity and Justice and Liberty...
Mother slept through a classical concert at the City Hall of Schafeberg.
And the start of a gigantic and unique waste collection.
Open the gateway!
Stasi begone! Stasi begone!
Mother kept on sleeping. Deeply and firmly.
She missed my first trip into the West,
and how some comrades conscientiously protected us workers and peasants.
Of course she also missed my first cultural discoveries
in a new country.
Excuse me, excuse me.
Mothers deep sleep didn't allow her to participate in the first free polling.
Helmut! Helmut! Helmut!
She missed how Ariane gave up her study of economic theory...
Enjoy your meal and thank you for choosing Burger King.
... and made her first practical experience with the circulation of money.
The sleep saved her the moving-in of Ariane's new boyfriend. Rainer, class enemy and barbecue man.
The furniture from the bedroom is going to the basement.
She missed the increasing Westernization of our 79-square-metre apartment...
The old rubbish with the red dot is going to the bulk waste, okay?
... and Rainer's enthusiasm for the oriental customs and way of life.
The big hormanal ecstasy that I experienced watching
a few beautiful legs, didn't reach into her night.
Shit!
What're you doing there? - I... the infusion...
And not even the first day of Nurse Lara exchange angel from the sovjet union,
penetrated her black dreams.
There you are again. - Hello.
I was worried about you. - They've put me in clink.
Mother overslept the triumph of the capitalism. - Relief!
And the coordination of my hospital visits.
Do you know what I noticed? When she's in a good mood,
she's carrying her hair loosely. When she's in a bad mood, she puts them up.
And during the doctor's round, she chews on her fingernails.
Don't you think she's got a beautiful smile?
Her sleep ignored, how heroes of work became unemployed.
The PGH TV workshop "Adolf Hennecke" was winded up.
I was the last one and I switched off the light.
Then there was the reprise. As a member of the quick-witted East-West-Team, I applied the reunification very early.
Satellite dishes blossomed in our landscape.
Denis Domaschke?
Domaschke. Denis Domaschke.
Alexander Kerner? - Here.
Well, come on. Don't be shy.
Hi.
And get along, guys.
Hi. - Hello.
Knut Vogel?
Hello, Mum. Doctor Wagner said we should talk to you.
And if I can't be there in person, I thought it might work like this too.
It's 5 o' clock now. Most of the doctors are gone
and you've finally got some peace. Nurse Lara, who's washed you,
should be gone too. If you could see her you'd surely wake up.
Ariane sends you her regards, she thinks the idea with the tape is nonsense. Well, you know her.
She's just in the room taking care of Paula who's getting her teeths and is screaming all the time.
Mother overslept my unstoppable progress with Lara.
Our first romantic rendez-vous followed 4 early shifts and 35 late shifts.
It's loud here!
Our Russian teacher came from Minsk and weighed a ton.
And that's all you know about Russian women?
The wind of change blew into the ruins of our Republic.
Summer came and Berlin was the most beautiful place on Earth.
We felt like being in the center of the world.
Where finally something moved. And we moved with it.
It's too bad she doesn't realize any of this.
Well, maybe it's better that way. Everything she believed in
has dissolved into air in a few months. Just like that.
And your dad? - He was a Doctor.
He escaped into the West. We haven't heard anything from him again.
The future was in our hands, uncertain and promising.
Good afternoon. We're X TV and we just wanted to...
Hello, do you need a satellite dish?
No money?
Good afternoon!
Do you like football? Then we've got something for you.
Good afternoon. We're X TV and...
We're X TV! Are you interested in a satellite dish?
This is Vietnam 1, there's Vietnam 2 and back there's the Viatnamese sport channel.
Alright!
To the World Cup! - To the future! - To us!
Comrade!
At the moment this is just running on the side.
And later... I'll do real feature films.
Same label of course.
Watch this, I'll just show you something.
That's what I'm working on at the moment. Watch this!
Don't look yet. Don't look yet, wait...
And... now!
Recognized it?
Now!
That's the famous cut from 2001, the one with the bone.
The cake represents the spaceship.
Got it now? Yes? - Ingenious.
Ingenious.
Alright, everybody laugh.
At the beginning of June 1990, the borders of our GDR were worthless.
Mother kept on sleeping. But I remembered the old words of the comrades:
"We solve problems by making headway" and I acted.
Mum?
Mum!
Can you hear me?
Your mother's awakening is a wonder. But she might not be the same person she used to be.
What do you mean?
There have been some cases in which the patients didn't recognize their own children: amnesia.
Loss of memory.
Sorry.
Mental confusion. Blending of long and short-term memory...
Taste and smell irritations, delayed perception. We don't know,
how badly the brain was damaged. There are a lot of uncertain possibilities.
I'm sorry to have to say this, but mother is still in great danger.
I'm afraid I can't give you much hope that she'll survive the next few weeks.
Well...
Can we take... her home with us?
Out of the question. She is in very good hands here.
It's also simpler for you. She can't take another heart attack.
You have to keep your mother away from any excitement, even any danger of excitement.
And I mean any form of excitement, Mr. Kerner!
Any excitement.
It's life-threatening.
And this?
Isn't this a reason to get upset?
My mother doesn't know anything about the Fall of the Wall. She'll find out about that here immediately.
Your granddaughter.
Mummy.
What's happened? - You collapsed.
8 months ago.
8... months ago?
I can't... remember.
That's normal. It will come back to you. You just have to have patience.
And what... what happened?
Well, that was... - It was October.
I think you wanted to go shopping.
And... there was a big queue in front of the store. And it was so hot,
you just collapsed. - In October?
It was a really hot October. Back then.
Yes.
And then?
You were in a coma, Mum.
I want to go home.
That I promise you.
We want to celebrate your birthday. As every year.
Alex, that's complete madness. - We don't leave her alone, we promised her.
Mum is fatally ill. It's better for her here. They've got the equipment.
Just this once, be realistic. - No, you be realistic.
What happens when she doesn't have a single room anymore? Or when someone lets the cat out of the bag?
She'll hear what is happening outside in here. She won't take it.
Alright, all of this rubbish has to come out.
Are mum's curtains still in the basement - You can't be serious.
They're rawlplugged.
Oh great! - Guess it'll have to be re-plastered.
Can you please tell me what he's doing? - What do you think I'm doing?
What should I think? - What should he think? - That you have to make way.
Or should we put Mum in the basement? - Excuse me, I've paying the rent for this flat for 5 months!
Generous of you, Rainer! - For the whole apartment! 47,80 German Mark! In the West that's not even enough for a telephone bill!
And in the East you have to wait 10 years to get a telephone connection! - Can't you just...?
Mum has to find the room in the same condition she left it in. The doctor said
she has to stay in bad okay? So it's only about this one room.
And when she's better, we'll see what we'll do. - You didn't get what the doctor said. Mum will probably...
That's what you said 3 months ago, when you wanted to switch off the machines.
That was a different situation, you can't compare this! - What do you want to tell her then, Ariane?
That you've given up your studies, because you're selling Hamburgers now?
"Enjoy your meal and thank you for choosing Burger King."
8th floor?. - Yeah.
Elevator, hm? - Broken. - Shit.
You can say that again.
My life changed drastically.
And the day we wanted to take mum home was ever drawing nearer,
relentlessly like a big Russian tank.
What're you doing sniffling in my cupboard? - Not in your cupboard. That's from the old clothes collection.
And how do you look? It would be nice if you would think a little for a change.
Look at this. This garbage is what we used to wear.
Sign here.
The physiotherapist is coming 3 times a week. Have you got any more questions?
Your mother is going at her own responsibility. You know how I think about this.
Where is the previous Doctor, by the way?
Doctor Wagner, he went to Duesseldorf. - I understand. And you?
When do you run away? And you want to lecture me about responsibility.
Please lie down a second.
Why? - Please. Just lie down.
If there's another cardiac arrest: short, strong thumps on the chest.
Careful! She mustn't wake up. - Alright, boss!
Ariane and I'll set up a schedule. And there's the physiotherapest.
There's always someone with her. It'll work.
Most GDR citizens already exchanged their savings cashlessly.
There are only 2 weeks left. You should hurry. Because as Gorbatschow once said:
He who is late... - Excuse me?.
will be punished all his life. - I can't hear it anymore. - Excuse me!
Could you tune down the radio please? My mother needs rest.
Alright, boss.
Don't you want to introduce us? - Oh yes, of course. This is Lara.
Hello, Lara.
Could you let me past, please?
Hello, Christiane!
Alex! What is it?
Hello? Alex!
Nothing's changed in here.
What should have changed?
Oh, if you're bored, you can listen to cassettes.
I'm afraid the radio receiver is broken.
But I'll repair that. - Alex?
It's good to know you're not alone.
When your father...
When he was suddenly gone...
I didn't think I'd make it.
I never told you that...
I thought about laying hands upon myself.
But you visited every day.
And you talked about school and Sigmund Jahn.
You heard that?
I'm sorry to cause you so much work.
I can't even use the toilet by myself. - Mum.
That doesn't matter.
The important thing is for you to get well.
I'll try hard.
You have to rest now.
I'll just go to the shop, but Ariane is still there.
Oh, Alex...?
I'm craving for Spreewood gherkins. Can you fetch me some?
No problem, Mum.
That's what I thought.
At the end of June 1990 the shops of our socialist Fatherland were emptied.
Real money was coming in from the country behind the Wall.
While most citizens queued in long lines in front of the Republic banks with their usual patience...
we were still frantically looking for mother's bankbook.
Yearned for by everyone, the German Mark flooded our little community.
Halleluja, Halleluja...
Halleluja, German Mark!
(Song) Such a day, so wonderful...
And the money was exchanged 2 to 1. Germany won 1:0!
Unstoppable shot! Germany is one-nil up by Lothar Matthaus!
Mocca Fix? - Haven't got that anymore. Filinchen Crispbread? - Not for sale anymore.
Spreewood gherkins? - Goodness, where do you live, boy?
We've got the German Mark now. And there you come asking for Mocca Fix and Filinchen?
Over night, our grey store was transformed into a colourful product paradise.
Over night, our store was transformed into a colourful product paradise.
And I became the king as a customer.
They're from the Netherlands.
Good afternoon, Mr. Ganske.
That's how far they've driven us already... that we have to go fishing in the garbage.
Mister Ganske, have you still got Spreewood gherkins?
What? - Spreewood gherkins!
I'm sorry, young man. I'm unemployed myself.
An empty glass would do, too.
I wanted to introduce Rainer to Mum today.
Later. We don't want to demand to much of her.
Perhaps you're right.
Yes.
I'm afraid there was a supply shortage for Spreewood gherkins.
It's alright. These are fine too.
Listen, you really don't have to take care of me all the time.
It's awkward for me. - Mum.
No, really. Maybe...
... you could put the TV next to the bed. Then I'll manage by my own.
Watching TV still is too tiring for you. - But why? Why shouldn't I...
be able to watch TV? - We'll ask the Doctor.
Mum, we have to talk to you about something.
It's like this...
We wanted to ask you if...
We need your authorization to access your bank account. - What is it?
Do you need money? - No. No.
It's just that you can't go walk the bank by yourself anymore.
And it would simply be better if...
you sign this.
Yes, and...
maybe now would be best.
But there's no hurry is there?
You're keeping something from me? Has something happened? Are you in debt?
Please trust us, it's important!
Before I let you have all my money, I have got a right to know what it's for don't I?
All right.
It was supposed to be a surprise but...
We received a notification.
From Zwickau. We can fetch our "Trabant" (GDR car).
After only 3 years?
And for that we need the money that you've saved.
You don't think... I got my money at the bank?
I've hidden it.
And where? - Where?
I forgot.
I've totally forgotten, it's all gone. - Mum, just think.
Father is coming home late today, don't you think?
Mum...
That's alright. Soon you'll be better again.
We'll celebrate your birthday. As every year.
With the house community. We have always celebrated it.
This is the First German Television with the news.
Comrade Ganske watches West-TV?
Comrade Ganske fell in love. During a vacation in Hungary.
With a pensioner from... Munich.
Since then his love for the party has suffered.
Oh. - Well...
Are you finished?
I'm sorry I'm late again. - There it is. Even with a balcony.
Since some citizens didn't even return from their vacation in Hungary,
the apartment market in the Capital eased considerably.
There were deserted apartments everywhere, which we only had to enter.
The guy moved to the West last year. A colleague gave me the hint.
Get a load of that! - Get a load of that - It's working! - Tempo-beans!
Globus green peas! That can't be true.
Mocca Fix Gold! I've been looking for that all the time!
Can I have that?
I have to go.
Sleep on...
Morning, Mum.
Morning, Alex.
Are you in a hurry? - I have to go to work.
Alex, please remember the TV. - Let's talk about that later.
Oh and about my birthday. Invite Klapprath and perhaps a few pupils.
As if the fucking gherkins weren't enough trouble already. Now she wants to watch TV.
What should I do? - Yeah, Houston. We got a problem.
Yeah, and now? - I thought you might have an idea. No, I meant the picture.
Oh.
Now? - Nope.
It didn't work very long. - Semi-finale! I'll just go over to the Pollnicks.
Then go already.
Excuse me. Are those gherkins from the Spreewood?
Nope, from the Netherlands.
Just show her something old. - What do you mean?
Old East-TV stuff on video tape.
News from last year? She'll notice for sure.
Ah, I don't think so. It was always the same rubbish. - Where should I get the videos from?
I haven't even got a recorder. - Bad enough.
What's the score?
Beckenbauer, Rudi Voeller... You don't want to see it...
Germany made it into the finale!
While the world time clock at the Alexander Square rushed towards mother's birthday,
a tiny round ball united the social development...
of the split nation and let things, that belonged together, grow together.
I slaved away like a Hero of Labour to resurrect the GDR in every detail
in mother's room until this day.
Have the cross-word puzzles already been solved? - Untouched like a virgin.
Great. I'll take them all.
Oh and these ones too.
They laid my daughter off too. All of a sudden it was: "Thank you, and goodbye."
And for that we worked for 40 years, oh leave me alone...... They'll even drop the TV ballet.
Don't you do anything apart from watching TV?
To get back to my mother. The problem is that
she doesn't know about the Fall of the Wall - Enviable.
And it's her birthday next week. She would really be happy about a visit.
Have you really got it now? I don't want to hear one false word.
And our 20 Marks? - The work comes first.
The first guests were invited. Others still had to be persuaded.
A lot of people of the Polytechnical Secondary School "Werner Seelenbinder"...
had withdrawn to their private lives. Including Doctor Klapprath.
Once headmaster and outstanding teacher of the People.
We were all valuable people.
Isn't that right, Alex?
I admired your mother. She was an outstanding educator.
And an excellent human being.
That's why she was neutralized.
Some comrades in the collective thought her to be too...
idealistic.
Ever since your father...
Her idealism was well-respected, but...
in the daily school routine, it... can become problematic sometimes.
And then you simply gave her the boot.
You still owe her something. - Yes.
You're a Dispatcher. Can you remember that? - Dispatcher? In the East?
Yes, of course in the East. You organize the purchasing of a Mitropa-Restaurant.
Write this down: School Education EOS Juri Gagarin.
And you were Group Council Chairman with the Pioneers. - Group Council... what?
Group Council Chairman. - That's enough.
I won't use those plastic diapers anymore. That's going too far.
Got it? Yes, Group Council Chairman.
Here you are, 30 broadcasts of "Current Camera", 10 broadcasts of "Black Channel"...
6 broadcasts "Colourful Boiler" and 4 broadcasts of "A Day in the West". It's all copied.
Sponsored by the country's picture library and a very charming Denis.
I hope that'll work.
What are you doing crawling on the ground? - That's the cable for the antenna so you can watch TV?
We've got the World Cup. Truly a gift. There is no better time to
supply satellite dishes to the East.
Okay? Got it? We come to phase 3...
What was that? - No idea. Interferences, happens from time to time.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the "Current Camera".
Hard provocation against the border. Protests in the Chancellor's office in the FRG (West Germany).
Chip-Power GDR. The foreign press acknowledges achievements...
Things are running outside and I feel so useless in here.
Can't you put a note on the house community's pin board?
Whoever's got any problems can come to me. I can write inputs from bed.
I don't know. You shouldn't exert yourself.
Morning, Alex. Is it time already?
You want a swig? You want a swig? - Oh holy shit!
Shit. Shit, yes? Shit!
Goodness, goddamn shit!
I feel sick.
While many loudly thought of themself being the World Cup holders of tomorrow,
sounds from the past came out of mother's bedroom.
Our home is not only the towns...
and villages...
Our home is also all the trees in the forest...
Our home...
is the grass on the sward, the corn on the field...
and the birds...