Western Poland, 1932
INVINCIBLE
(based on real-life events)
It was in a country far away. I don't know which one.
But it was a distant land.
A prince lost his mind and imagined himself...
- ...to be a rooster. - A rooster? Like this one?
Yes. He took refuge under the dining-room table...
...striped naked, and refused to eat anything but grain.
- And then? - The King called in magicians and doctors...
...to cure his son, but to no avail.
One day, an unknown sage arrived, took off his clothes...
...and joined the prince under the table, saying he too was a rooster.
Eventually, the sage convinced the prince to get dressed.
And finally to sit down and eat with the others. "Don't ever think"...
...said the sage, "...that by eating like...
...a man, with other|men at the table...
...a rooster ceases to be what he is."
"You can do anything with...
...men in their world. Or even for them."
"And yet remain the rooster that your are."
I'm so proud of you, Benjamin.
Such young little fellow, and brighter than all the adults.
Guess what? I have some money.
How would you like to eat in a restaurant?
A restaurant? Really?
What do you think about her and me, huh?
- You'd be fine. - Yeah, it's true!
Miss? Miss!
She has nice tits, and a fine ass.
- I wouldn't say no to sleeping with her. - Miss!
Miss, miss!
Hey, miss! Where the hell are the...
...girls in this stinking place, huh?
Could I have another one, please?
Hey, fatty! You should watch your weight.
Or soon you'll be wider than you're tall. Like a potato.
Like a stuffed pig!
Hey, fatty! What's your name?
He's not fat! He's my brother and he's strong.
I'm a blacksmith. My name is Zishe. Zishe Breitbart.
Hey, fatty! I'm talking to you.
Our fatty is a jew.
A big fat jew.
A fat one, and a thin one.
The fat jew eats too much, and the thin jew not enough.
Hey, fatty! Why doesn't...
...the little one eat anything, huh?
You should eat more, like your fat brother.
Good idea.
You're too thin.
- The thick and the thin... - ...together through thick and thin.
- Open your mouth! - And eat!
Hey!
You will pay me for this! Have you an idea...
... how much beer that was? One hectolitre.
And do you know how much a barrel costs? And how much that table costs?
It wasn't his fault, the others started it!
As for the money, I'd like to pay.
Yes, we'd really like to pay for this, but we don't have any money.
What I should do is call the police.
But I think there's a way for you to pay for the damage.
The circus is in town. Outside, by the gate.
There's a famous "strongman". And there's prize money to be won...
...for the man who can beat him!
Ladies and Gentlemen, dear children!
I would like to announce that our Hercules has a challenger!
A strong young man, without doubt.
But in more than 20 years...
...our Hercules, our Colossus of Rhodes...
...has never been defeated.
For years we have been raising the prize...
...to the amount of 5.000 Zloty for any man...
...who proves himself stronger. Not without reason...
...the ancients have proclaimed the Colossus of Rhodes...
...one of the 7 Wonders of the World!
And now, highly esteemed audience...
...his challenger this evening:
Zishe Breitbart! Blacksmith from this town.
I can do more! I can do more!
Yitzak, come! There's a visitor. A real gentleman.
- What does he want? - I don't know. He arrived in a motorcar.
And, oh my God, I have nothing to offer him.
Landwehr. Alfred Landwehr.
Pleased to meet you, Mr. Breitbart.
And this is your strong son.
- Please! Sit down! - Thank you.
I'm an agent for variety artists.
Dancers, chucklers, magicians.
Everything that is in demand. And the demand in Berlin is enormous.
I possess an instinct for great talents.
For people who will go straight to the top.
I was at the circus yesterday to see the local strongman, when your son--
You need not go on. We are respectable people.
For a jew this is not the right thing.
But the most gifted people in cinema, in theatre and art are.
I never even thought about leaving. I belong in this smithy...
- ...in our little Shtetl. - You see, our jewish Shtetls...
...are like holy books, open...
...to the eyes of God. And the Day of the Torment...
...even the fish tremble in the brook.
In spring, during Passover, the trees rejoice.
Sir... you're like a shopkeeper, with empty shelves.
With nothing to sell.
Son... you'll have to attend university!
You've said that beautifully...
...really.
Do you know how old the boy is? 9!
This little fellow is just 9 years old.
And to think that this is my brother, Benjamin.
Look at what an incredible boy my brother is.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Are you all right?
- Yes, thank you. - Fine! Me too.
Good morning, Mr. Landwehr! We've just been talking about you.
Did you sleep in the motorcar?
There isn't even a hotel around here to spend the night.
- Good morning. Mornin'. Mornin'. - You are an exceptional man.
I am, when i'm after an exceptional talent.
Zishe, listen!
I want you to come with me just for the day!
I have something to show you.
- But i can't leave. I must work. - Your father...
...would excuse you for an afternoon, huh?
My son is able to make up his own mind...
...about such things.
You'll be most interested to see what i'm going to show you.
Look Zishe, look at all the motorcars!
There must be every motorcar in the whole world...
...right in Berlin!
More than motorcars, young man. Watch what's coming.
That's a flying machine! I've read about it.
Look at how many people it can carry.
Aeroplanes will never compete against that.
Benjamin!
- Benjamin, wake up! - I am awake!
- I've been thinking. - So have I.
Do you believe God gives to each of us a gift?
Of course.
God made me strong, Benjamin. Don't you think...
...that he made me strong for a reason?
A blacksmith needs to be strong.
But I am stronger than a blacksmith needs to be.
Sometimes we don't understand why God does what He does.
This is what I must find out.
- Zishe? - What? Tell me.
The Book of Prophets says: "Spare me...
...that i may recover strength, before i go hence...
...and be no more. And be no more."
- And? - And, what?
- What do you think about it? - About what?
Berlin.
Let me talk to the Rabbi first.
But before anything, we have to celebrate Passover.
But...
Children, when we fled Egypt, we didn't...
...have time for the bread to rise.
Hannah? What happened when we came to the sea?
- Hashem opened the seas. - Yes, he did!
And, Raffael? How many years did we stay in the desert?
Forty.
Yes. All right.
- Search for it! - Yes!
Where is it?
It must be somewhere.
Maybe under the pillow. Hannele found it!
- Wonderful! - Hannele found it!
- She has found it. - Very well!
Wonderful!
- How much do you want for it? - 6 Zloty.
No, that's too much!
Yes...
- 6! - Yes.
I want to thank the Allmighty for my good wife, and my children.
You are the salt of earth. And you fill my heart with joy.
Today, I want to thank God in particular...
...for my strong firstborn.
Zishe, my son! You will go out into the World...
...but don't ever forget who you are!
Hold on! Hold on!
I've travelled very far. I've been as far as Vilna. But a thing like this...
...a thing like this i've never seen before.
Can you give me a ride?
- Where can we take you? - You're not going to Berlin, by any chance?
- Are you hungry? - All the time.
My mother has never been able to feed me enough.
And you want to walk all the way to Berlin?
Yes. I have a ticket for the train, first class.
But i'm going to return the ticket, and my mother will get a new dress instead.
I've heard there are many pretty girls in Berlin.
Girls like you won't find in the country. Maybe you'll meet one.
I have already, sort of. In a dream.
But I couldn't see her face, because... I know it sounds strange...
...but there was so much light. I think she was a princess.
You didn't come specially for me? How did you know?
Your reputation is faster than your feet.
My name is Delilah.
Better take care, Samson!
Berlin, May 1932
It's me, Zishe! Zishe Breitbart!
You want to talk to Mr. Landwehr?
Are you still there? Hello? Hello?
- Speak please. - What?
- Please speak. - Yes!
- Where are you? - In Berlin.
Come and see us at once. Mr. Landwehr...
...is expecting you. We thought you were lost.
A girl you say.
And she wanted to marry you at once?
Well, actually no.
She just wanted to keep me.
Don't just stand there, have a seat.
Thank you.
You realize, that the possibilities to employ you are...
- ...somewhat limited. - Yes? What do you mean by that?
No, no, don't be afraid!
I'm good at the work i do. The best, if i may say so.
I'm going to employ you in an establishment called...
..."Hanussen's Palace of the Occult".
I don't quite understand. What am i supposed to do there?
I've talked to Hanussen, and he was immediately pleased with my idea.
Hanussen has understood something about the insecurity of our times.
Inflation, unemployment, mass strikes...
...attempted coups, bank rushes.
People long for a strong man, a leader.
And Hanussen is the clairvoyant, the prophet of this longing.
And what does that have to do with me?
I can tell you! You will be a kind of contrasting program:
The strenght of the body, against the...
...dark powers of the spirit of the occult.
And i have to point out to you right now that you...
...must play a certain game.
I can't do that. I'm strong, that's all.
I don't demand anything else from you. And furthermore, you'll keep your mouth shut!
I'll meet with tomorrow at Hanussen's.
Dismissed!
PALACE OF THE OCCULT
No, impossible!
What if he carries a weapon, pearhaps a spear?
No, he shouldn't look like some primitive man.
Someone from primordial times.
That's my demand. Take it off!
Take it off! I hope you're all in for the dark instincts.
How about a Greek or a Roman? You know, a gladiator?
Turn! Turn around!
Pearhaps for the first act.
After the break he can be dressed as...
...some kind of heroic figure.
How's "Zishe, The Strong"?
By no means! The jewish name must go at once!
You see, my boy... my public consists of film stars.
Above all, followers of the National Socialists.
Big shots of the party.
We will aryanize you.
A jew should never be as strong as you.
The new act!
- Yes, i'm the strong man. - I'm the magician here.
You don't look like a magician.
Oh, indeed? Well, then watch!
Don't be deceived. The ace may seem like the ace.
And the queen may seem like the queen. But the truth here is always...
...what one does not see.
If you want to see the place, i can show you around.
Follow me, but quiet.
This is Hanussen's "Circle of the Occult".
No, performers really shouldn't be here.
Hanussen doesn't like it.
Place your hands in the light.
Make contact with one another.
Feel the energy surge through you.
I am... your clairvoyant.
I see your future.
Excuse me!
My name is...
Actually, I wanted to tell you...
...you are the most...
Ladies and Gentlemen! I'd like to welcome you...
...with all my heart to a new spring and summer...
...program at Hanussen's...
...Palace of the Occult.
Now we shall begin with someone all of you are certainly familiar with.
Herr Rothschild, the banker!
Trying to run off with the profits of the Great War.
The laughter backstage is not permitted! If...
...anyone laughs, it'd better be the audience, do you understand me?
Yes. I understand.
Wig! Put your wig on!
- Put it on! Quickly! - And now, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Helmet!
A novelty in our program. A man of monstrous physical strenght.
The victor of all roman gladiators.
I give you: Siegfried!
Out!
After the great battle against...
...the Cimbers and Teutons, Siegfried...
...was taken to the roman arena as a prisoner.
They put him in chains.
But chains could not hold him.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Siegfried, the Aryan King!
Siegfried won every fight. He took the cuirass...
...from the strongest of all defeated gladiators.
And from Varus, he took not only his...
...head, but his heirlooms.
And now Ladies and Gentlemen, the man who...
...is in league with the powers of the occult.
The Master of the abysses of the soul, whose power over the...
...soul itself is able to achieve unbelievable things.
The man who is endowed with more power..
...than the strongest body could ever possess: Erik Jan Hanussen!
Venerable audience:
You are familiar with the phenomenon which i myself...
...cannot fully explain.
I have been endowed with a misterious gift.
Retracting the aura of the cosmos...
...and transmitting its rays back to people who are gifted... mediums.
And, are we not all in reality endowed with a medial gift?
These rays of cosmic energy are known as "Hypnosis".
And they manifest all the power of the occult.
The unknown side of the human psyche.
And it will prove to you that all our german people...
...are full of unknown power. A die will be cast.
- Four! - Four. Table four. Is there?
Count Helldorf! Good evening, Sir.
Good evening.
The Police Chief of Berlin!
May i ask your enchanting companion...
...to come up on stage, please?
Please.
- What is your name? - Hedda Christianson.
- And i think i've seen you on the screen. - Yes, I've done two talkies.
But I'm still a beginner.
The beginning of a great carrier, no doubt!
Don't worry. Just relax.
I'm now going to send you into trance.
Count Helldorf, the most charming of all...
...police chiefs, will be there to keep an eye on you.
And some of our sturdiest Stormtroopers...
...in Berlin will be there to support him.
- Certainly! - Always ready! To victory!
Focus on this object. And listen to my voice.
Follow my voice. My voice is leading you.
Keep your eyes fixed, watch this object.
Focus your eyes. The power of the whole people...
...will concentrate in you.
Your legs are getting heavy. Very heavy.
Your arms are getting heavy.
Heavier and heavier...
Your eyelids are getting heavy.
Very heavy... You feel sleepy.
You feel tired. Very tired...
You want to sleep. Your eyes are closing.
Your eyelids are becoming heavier. And heavier.
Your eyes are closing. And you feel sleepy.
Tired. Very tired. You want to sleep.
Let yourself sink. You're sinking deeper and deeper.
To the bottom of a bottomless lake.
You are asleep.
I now place a coin on the back of her hand.
I invoke all black powers from the blackest abyss.
The coin on your hand is growing hot.
Very hot.
You feel your hand getting hotter... and hotter.
Yet you feel no pain. No pain.
The coin is burning now.
Your hand is being burned. Yet you feel no pain.
No pain. Listen to my voice.
I'm now going to wake you up. I will count to three.
When i count to three, you will awake.
You will feel well, very well. And you will awake.
One. You feel your body becoming lighter. And lighter.
Two. Let your body drift up slowly...
...towards the surface of the lake.
Three! You break the surface of the water.
You open your eyes, and you're awake.
You're awake. You're strong.
You are feeling strong, and you are feeling good.
Are you awake now? Are you awake?
Yes.
- Where am I? What happened? - Count Helldorf, Sir.
Can you please come up on stage as a witness?
Will you please take the coin from the back...
...of the hand of your charming companion?
- What do you see now? - Hedwig, my darling!
For God's Sake, what has happened?
Please describe what you see.
A blister. A blister from a burn.
- A big blister on her hand. - Are you in pain?
No, not at all!
Come in.
Well?
Well, the cost-- The costume and all this.
What about it?
Marta... my darling!
Have you met our new strong man?
His name is Zishe.
Yes.
I have big plans for him.
- I've seen you before. - Yes, backstage.
- No. - Where then?
A dream.
- A dream? - Yes, actually...
What i want to say is...
The costume... I don't feel quite right as a Teuton.
Champagne!
Sit.
Sit!
Take a sip.
No, thank you.
Now listen! My boy!
You don't seem to be quite clear yet.
We are entertainers.
We work for a sole employer. And that is the public.
We give them what they want. We articulate their colective dreams.
Now: if you still don't understand this at the end of intermission...
...pearhaps we should send you back to your little Shtetl.
In Poland.
I'm homesick. I miss my brothers and sisters.
And working with my father.
I work here for a clairvoyant.
His name is Hanussen. And he is a mystery to me.
I have the power to radiate energy onto you.
You feel pulled. Something is drawing you.
You're sinking. Sinking.
Sinking...
What the power of the body can achieve, Ladies and Gentlemen...
...the power of the spirit can also achieve.
And more, much more.
The frail body of our pianist is...
...able to perform far greater things...
...Ladies and Gentlemen. Just as our people...
...are capable of developing unimaginable powers.
They merely need to be led.
And, like a cosmic event, like a comet in the sky...
...a figure of light has come among us.
And this force, which will crush all foreign vermin...
...has a name: Adolf Hitler.
He will. I see it, i see it clearly before my eyes.
One day he will lead our thirsting people.
I am the seer. I am the prophet of his coming.
To victory!
The flag up high...
...the troops tight together!
SA marches with firm...
...and calm steps!
To victory! To victory!
So lively, so early in the morning?
I am, you see... possibly in the wrong place.
Marta, leave us for a moment.
I'll call you when i need you.
- Something on your mind? - You see, the audience...
I don't feel right with the audience.
Pearhaps i'm just too jewish.
I understand you better than you think.
Really?
We are alike, you and i.
Yes.
We are showmen. We provide the...
...bewildered a beacon of light.
The audience doesn't seem very bewildered to me.
There are a lot of those nazis out there...
...who seem to know exactly where they are going.
And i am their prophet.
You know, my boy, what my dream is?
Something... much grander than this.
And i've already found it.
I want to be to the present what the...
...Oracle of Delphi was to antiquety.
High ranking party members have..
...already intimated to me that I will be the Minister...
...of the Occult in Hitler's future cabinet.
I have just awakened the barbaric prehistoric demons...
...to a new godless life.
Look, I am not particularly religious...
...but in my family there is God.
If there is such a thing as God...
...then he dwells here.
And this God protects me.
Gives me power.
Do you want to see what real power is? Marta!
Marta!
Sing! Sing!
- Which song? - The one about chandelier.
"As long as my panties are hanging...
...in the chandelier come morning...
...you can be sure that i still love you."
Now the proof.
Turn around.
Look, my boy.
The roundest butt on God's wide earth.
And it's mine.
All mine.
EXIT
I didn't want to disturb you. I'm sorry.
You're not disturbing me at all. Please, stay.
That was really won-- Wonderful.
Why don't you sit down next to me?
I don't know anything about music. Tell me, where did you learn all this?
I thought you were a princess when I first heard you play. Tell me.
I studied at the Conservatory, in Prague.
You see, i had high hopes then.
And i've never really given them up.
And why are you here?
The reason is that i'm a stateless person.
Do you know what that means?
As a child they kept pushing me around between three countries.
I never knew my parents. And when Hanussen was in Prague...
- ...he took me away with him. - He was in Prague?
Yes, in Prague. And he gave me work with his Palace Orchestra.
I'm sure you have noticed that he doesn't treat me well.
Ye. Yes, i've noticed that.
But i stay with him all the same. Well, yes.
Why am i still with him?
Miss Marta, I want you to... I am...
Zishe, I know what you mean.
Your music... It's so beautiful when you play.
- You see, I have a dream. - Can you tell me what it is?
Someday I'd like to play Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto.
With a full orchestra to accompany me.
I would give anything for that.
I have a vision deep inside.
Come with me. I'll show you.