Cast
Screenplay by
Music by
Director of Photography
Directed by
No!
What happened?
What do you want? Go away!
I don't need you now! Go to hell!
My friends, we're invited to a boring banquet.
Sorry, but we have to attend it.
Can't you stay with us for a bit longer, Dorchen?
No, we're much too late.
Sorry. Excuse me. Good evening.
I wanted to say you were marvelous tonight.
You were fantastic. It was a real pleasure.
You fraud! You didn't even see the show.
Never mind.
You're talented, they say.
Me? Talented? Say it louder.
Yes, you're very talented.
I'm sure you'll soon be able to show just how talented you are.
We're really late.
Böck! Seven marks!
If you need money, I can lend you 50 marks until the end of the month.
Don't get involved. I don't need your 50 marks.
Böck likes giving me money. Quick!
- Good evening, Miklas. - Good evening.
Thank you.
So...
Mr. Kroge would let me starve.
- So, you old sinner... Take a seat. - As you wish. The accused sits.
Good evening, Director, how did you like it?
What's getting you down, Hendrik?
That I'm a provincial actor.
Is that all? Nothing else?
Hello.
You're late.
One day, I'll come to fetch you, no matter your dread.
Don't you dread that, Heinz?
- Please don't call me Heinz. - Why not? That's your name.
But I dislike it. Understand?
I understand everything.
Even the fact that you can't drink
a pint of beer like a regular man. Shall we start?
What was that about beer?
Even just hearing you say the word beer doesn't feel right.
'A pint of beer' sounds phony when you say it.
I don't drink, Juliette.
I know, Heinz. Take your shoes off.
What are you waiting for?
Do not just stand there like you have just shat yourself.
And one, two, one, two, three, four.
- Too quick. - Another time!
One, two, three, four. one, two...
That's it!
Don't fall down now.
Faster! Faster!
So what are your bones made of?
You want to be an actor and show off for money, too?
You are but a comical picture of misery.
If you liked music, you wouldn't get tired, Heinz.
You always laugh at me, Juliette, always!
Come on!
It's because I can't cry, Heinz. Would you love me if I could?
I love you anyway. Even though you can't cry.
You only love yourself, Heinz, and even then not enough.
Keep talking. I like listening to you speak.
Anyway, you never pay attention to me.
Your only concern
is pretending...
You always have a mask on, you know?
I, too, have skin and bones and a body with weight,
eyebrows and fingernails, just like you.
I, too, shudder in the cold. I can be hungry and thirsty.
I, too, think of my mother sometimes.
And I know there are Bourgeois and Communists.
But...
...my eyes are not my eyes.
My legs are not mine,
my face is not mine
and my name is not my name,
because I am an actor!
Do you know what it means to be an actor?
An actor is...
a mask...
among human beings.
- Come! Come! - You!
Juliette...!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
here we are again, gathered to rehearse a brand new play.
May I introduce our guest,
Miss Nicoletta von Niebuhr,
who will be the female guest lead in this production.
Do you mind if my friend watches the rehearsal, Director?
I have no objection, Miss.
Two cognacs and one absinthe.
Three beers.
- Two cognacs and one absinthe. - Thank you.
- Cheers, ladies. - Thank you.
Please excuse me, ladies.
Old Hansemann...
Will we look lovely in this play?
Why? We are lovely.
May I introduce my best friend, Barbara Bruckner?
Nice to meet you.
- What? - You have a nice smell of lavender.
Oh, yes? Can you smell the lavender, too?
How shocking! A man that smells lavender! For me, it is essential.
A little on the temples and the neck is as good
as a night's sleep.
Sleep would be better, but there's no time.
A beer and a mineral water.
We'll hear what the old man has to say
use the good bits,
and then play it our way.
He's good, but old-fashioned.
The future of the Hamburg Art Theatre is me, obviously.
I mean the two of us, Ulrichs and me.
Most of the plays here are shallow bourgeois stuff.
But me and Otto, we visualize theatre that will involve everyone.
Even the workers and the dockworkers of Hamburg.
Where will you perform this theatre?
It doesn't matter. In the docks, factories, cellars.
Hendrik, we promised the comrades the play would be ready last week.
They'll get it, Otto, don't fuss. Let's get this premiere over first.
We must prove
that theatre has a political function. But it's not easy.
Before it can be political or revolutionary,
it first has to be good. It's very important, it's essential.
Which actors will be in this sort of theatre?
All who think like us. Even workers.
It's what we say, not how we say it.
But I've no qualms even if Hendrik stages our plays.
Why are you looking at me like that?
Am I not allowed to?
If it pleases you, go ahead.
Without you, I'll be finished.
There's too much evil in me.
Alone, I'm too weak to overcome it,
but you could help me.
I can't talk anymore.
So many thoughts are just parts I've played.
I love you, Barbara.
I'm in love... with another woman.
Juliette, do you think I am a good-looking man?
I've never seen you on stage. Maybe you're handsome there. But...
...frankly, I've never found you good-looking, Heinz. Except...
...your cold cheating eyes that are those of a sad child.
You use it well.
Who have you fallen for?
- A girl. - Great.
You falling in love...
One day you may just learn how to walk, not just dance.
Love the girl, Heinz.
But don't tell me anything about her.
Let's leave it at that and meet again when the time is right.
Yes.
You know what? I'm coming with you.
I have nothing to lose, Heinz.
Are you crazy?
See a psychiatrist, Heinz.
Though, I'm sure you wouldn't dare talk about yourself.
Go. We'll meet soon anyway.
Even if I don't want to.
Excuse me, Grandma, would you have some time for me?
- I'd like to introduce... - Your fiancé.
I have to take a closer look at my new grandson.
Not bad at all.
Excuse me.
My mother apologizes, she will be here shortly.
Her being late is totally normal.
Loving mothers rarely want to hurry along
their son's marriage
and thus their only son leaving the nest.
Hello, Sebastian.
That is Sebastian.
Mom.
I'm pleased, really pleased.
My dear child...
I'm Nicoletta von Niebuhr, a relative,
the bride's best friend, almost her sister.
Often the bridegroom's mistress,
only on stage, of course, as instructed by the director.
And I hope things stay that way.
May I call you Aunt Bella?
Of course, Nicoletta.
Mr. Höfgen, would you come with me?
I'd like to show you my garden and my trees.
I'd love to see it.
Have you unsettling memories, too?
Memories
that give you the creeps but you can't help
but think about them?
When I was about twelve,
I got into the boys' choir of our school.
I was overjoyed. I thought
I could sing better than the other boys.
We had to sing
in church at some wedding.
I wanted...
...to show off.
I was so proud of my soprano voice.
When the choir started to sing I got the idea
of singing one octave higher than the others.
As I stood there, proudly singing
the choirmaster noticed me and looked at me at length,
more in disgust than in disapproval, and he said softly,
'Just keep quiet.'
Just like that. Do you understand?
Softly and dryly he said, 'Just keep quiet.'
When I felt I was singing like an angel.
Do you have such memories?
No.
You've never had to feel ashamed in your life.
I often have.
I often have to feel
awfully ashamed of myself.
So ashamed I could sink down into hell.
Do you understand that?
This is the basement room. The windows face the street.
Here's a lamp post and here, too.
Behind it is the bakery
- with women lined up for bread... - Stop!
Great.
Mrs. Schulz, you come up past the window and you stop here.
Barbara, can you put a lamp post here
with a light to dazzle the audience? You see?
Then you come here and start to recite Mrs. Queck's monologue.
'I'm Mr. Queck's widow, who hasn't paid the rent...'
Then listen. Barbara, we could have two or three more lamp posts
in the auditorium,
so people feel they're really
in their filthy street.
We'll cover the walls with posters,
recent political slogans, painted, glued, all jumbled up.
At the back, a grocer's shop,
with nothing to sell, of course. Do you understand?
Everything in the hall must express what we talk about.
Then from time to time, two policemen appear.
They can patrol the rows and stare at the audience.
An end, once and for all, to passive watching,
to the isolated actor.
The public must play an active part.
The days of the peepshow and the proscenium theatre are over.
The actor with his text is only one element of the performance,
not it's focal point.
The hall, walls, lights, movements, sounds,
everything bears importance. They create a singular effect.
That's real theatre
and we have to show it to the workers.
A total theatre that shocks and arouses them.
"I am Mr. Queck's widow, who cannot pay the rent."
"Because I'm a widow,
I work for the baker, for I live in his house."
"It's the only way I can feed my seven hungry children."
"Wait! The half-hour has to be paid for."
"We've been waiting for half an hour."
"Here reigns logic and hunger."
"I owe you 51 marks and 25 pfennigs."
"I've had nothing these past few days..."
Silly goose!
And you're sabotaging our work! And I know why.
Miklas or one of his damn party friends
has put you up to it!
What do you want from me?
You don't do your work! Why don't you prompt her?!
It's useless, anyway.
Revolutionary theatre or any sort of theatre
can't be staged with provincial hams, with amateurs!
Even revolutions need professionals!
I'll buy you a drink to celebrate
the revolutionary theatre's big flop.
Cool down, my son.
Hello. Hello.
Two schnaps, please.
How about a rebellious evening?
I'd like to invite you for dinner.
Me?
- Good morning. - Morning.
- You're still half asleep. - I'm awake.
I've even phoned our grocer.
He's a bit impatient over our large bill.
I'm sorry if I don't present
a picture of early morning freshness.
If I, like you, went riding every morning,
I'd probably look more attractive.
But in our circles, such noble sports were not customary.
You play the offended husband well. A real touch of Molière.
Oh, stop enjoying yourself.
How can you
sit all night at a Nazi thug's table.
Miklas is not a thug.
All Nazis are thugs.
You must avoid their company. Their dirt rubs off on you.
I'm really sorry that you can't understand it.
It must be your family's well-known liberalism.
You only pretend to care, but for others it's a belief.
You view his convictions as psychological quirks.
I feel sorry for this boy.
He aspires to success, but suffers from hunger.
You all treat him very badly, you and the others.
He's just looking for a helping hand from the Nazis.
Oh, how wonderful! So much understanding for that lousy brat.
We treat him badly... How would they treat us if they came to power?
God forbid!
And yet you sit and chat with him.
I know, Barbara, it's your bourgeois tolerance:
to be understanding, even with our greatest enemies.
I'm sure when the time comes,
you could even excuse fascist terrorism.
Your liberalism might even get used to a dictatorship, right?
No, thank you.
May I make a comment, sweetheart?
It's common practice
to eat an egg from its shell and with salt.
I know in the Bruckner household you eat it from a glass
with six spices. That's very original,
but no need to make fun of those
unaccustomed to such originality.
- Who's the leading man in Halberstadt? - Herbert Boltz.
Where's Mrs. Türkheim-Gawernitz now?
She plays mothers in Heidelberg.
- And Hannelore Kühn? - In Mannheim.
- And who's Othello in Dresden? - Max Krause.
- And Iago? - Johannes Fiedler.
- And Desdemona in Leipzig? - Käthe Müttel.
Who's the ingénue in Jena?
A stupid cow called Lotte Lindenthal.
Yes!
Why would you call her that?
I don't know, but she really is.
I know why you insult her, Mr. Höfgen.
Because she's friends with a National Socialist leader.
I'm only moderately interested
in the names and titles of Miss Lindenthal's lovers.
Must be quite a long list.
Watch your tongue!
You won't insult a lady because she's in
the National Socialist German workers' party
and friends with a national hero.
You won't stand for it?
My, my...
You're drunk.
I'm not.
On the contrary.
Apparently, I'm the only one here with a spark of honor left.
Nobody in this Jew-ridden business cares if a lady is insulted.
Let go of me!
No!
- Hans! Calm down! - Let go of me!
I'll gladly believe you're not drunk, Miklas.
You have no excuse to fall back on, then.
As for this Jew-ridden business you're in,
you won't suffer it much longer.
That I promise you.
Perhaps you're right.
I agree, the fellow's behavior was intolerable,
but I can't just fire a poor, sick man like that.
Sick? He's not sick at all.
Why this indecision and compromise all the time?
It's just like our government parties.
Excuse me, Barbara.
We must show this murderous pack it can't get away with anything.
I beg you, don't insist that he be sacked on the spot.
It's punishment enough
that he won't be hired back next season.
He has no idea what he said last night, he just went wild.
I'm amazed, Otto.
I'm really amazed
that you, of all people, should say that.
Don't get personal.
I don't want him made a martyr.
- In the current climate... - Excuse me, Otto, if I interrupt.
This interesting but purely hypothetic conversation is quite pointless.
The case is way more simple: it is me or him.
Either Miklas leaves the theatre...
or I do.
That's nonsense.
Be sure,
the boy will be fired.
Go on, higher, higher!
Enough! Stop! This isn't a funeral march!
Again from number nine.
Lights!
Sorry to interrupt.
Mr. Kroge asks you to immediately approve the premiere's poster.
It must be taken to to the printer's.
Can't I get my name spelled correctly even in this theatre?
My name is not Henrik, but Hendrik!
Hendrik Höfgen!
One day, they'll all have to mark my name.
Try to understand, Mr. Kroge. I can't and won't tie myself down.
It's a great strain.
To stay under contract is to give up one's freedom. I want to be free.
I can't be a provincial matinee idol anymore. I've had enough.
No, no, no... I've really had enough.
You want to leave us for good?
I don't know yet, nothing is sealed.
The Professor offered me a part.
One never knows where a part in Berlin may lead.
Dora Martin will be my partner.
In that case...
Accept the offer.
Thank you.
Berlin!
Thank you, ladies. See you tomorrow.
- Goodbye. - Goodbye.
So you are Mr. Höfgen.
You have a lot of friends, Mr. Höfgen.
Some of them, who understand theatre, recommended you to me.
And your father-in-law, too,
when we met at the Ministry of Culture.
Along with Dora Martin most recently.
In real life, I may seem a bit nondescript,
but not on stage.
My dear father-in-law once aptly described
my ability to transform myself.
Well...
I hope we'll get on well, Mr. Höfgen.
Don't expect too much. I cannot offer you any major parts.
You were probably used to a reasonable income in Hamburg.
Here, at first, you'll have less.
Are you hard to satisfy?
Money doesn't interest me.
My needs are modest.
All I need
every day is a clean shirt and a drop of cologne.
Discuss the details with Miss Bernhardt, she will explain everything.
Please give my regards to your father-in-law.
- Hendrik Höfgen. - Oh... Bernhardt.
- Nice to meet you. - Here's your contract.
Thank you.
- May I? - Please.
Thanks.
- 700 marks a month, before tax. You agree to play as cast. - Yes.
So...
Could you please give these flowers...
...and this card...
...to Mrs. Martin?
Will you?
THANKS!
Well, Hendrik Höfgen...
Now you're a beginner again.
Hamburg's fame, routine and safety all lie behind you.
Now you must summon up all your strength, old boy.
And we'll start by...
...working off...
...that blubber.
- Who is that? - Dora Martin's Hamburg actor lover.
- No, Miss Bernhardt's. - You're misinformed, dear.
So glad you were able to come, Mr. Höfgen,
despite all your work.
May I introduce you to some of your most fervent admirers?
Mr. Cäser von Muck and Mr. Müller-Andrea.
Make sure you aren't influenced by the prevailing
cultural Bolshevism, which had struck Kurfürstendamm.
What do you mean?
That German culture can only be renewed if it returns
to its national roots, to its essence of ancestral blood and soil.
Russian ravings or French farces
are alien to the spirit the German nation needs.
Lenie, have you met Mr. Höfgen?
"Berlin's new star"... according to tomorrow's London Times.
I've seen you on stage once. You danced, didn't you?
Yes, I like dancing.
I had a good teacher.
What a distinctive face! I'd like to model your head.
No necktie and no gold we've got.
We're just a very shabby lot
at which the bourgeois spits.
The bourgeois with polished boots and medals on morning suits
and every morning he ablutes for church, or for the Ritz.
Where does the bourgeois get it all?
His guns, his celebration ball?
He steals it where he can
He makes it hard for us to rob Takes it all, the greedy slob
Exploits the poor and wrecks the job of every working man
Oh, if so wealthy I could be,
Commit like him grand larceny
All honored since my birth
If then I met someone I knew, You filthy lot,
I'd spit at you That's all you dogs are worth!
- No! No! Let me go! - Come here!
Stink Jew!
- Get lost! - Sure, I'm gone!
Drunken pigs!
One of the most famous State Theatre actors, Hendrik Höfgen.
Let's forget the State Theatre and fame.
I am your comrade, Hendrik Höfgen.
What does the proletariat want?
That nobody should rule!
What does the proletariat want?
That nobody should rule!
Nobody shall give orders
Nobody shall be a slave
Freedom, equality for all souls!
I'll dictate. Headline:
"Actor Hendrik Höfgen wins
Berlin workers' hearts overnight."
New paragraph.
- Hendrik? - Hello.
There's an antique dealer in Woltersdorf.
I went there and bought some things. You don't mind?
Why should I mind? On the contrary.
I'm going to change real quick and show you afterwards.
I love you, Barbara.
Not only your father and grandmother, but I, too...
I, too, love you. Hendrik Höfgen.
Welcome to my home, dear Sebastian.
I need to leave. The theatre awaits me.
When I'm back,
we'll have a talk. All three of us.
Up!
Two!
Three!
Four!
Five!
Six!
We're here. We are young and strong!
Together, we shall create a new world!
- What does your father do? - He's a road digger!
- And yours? - A farmer!
- And yours? - A teacher. He educates the people.
- And yours? - A baker. He bakes your bread.
Mine's a miller. He grinds grains.
A doctor. He cares for us.
A bricklayer. He has built our houses.
- A railway worker. - Electrician!
We are the sons of one people, and we all have the same goal.
- Unity and strength! We'll win! - No!
That's not convincing enough. Too soft.
We are the sons of one people and we all have the same goal!
Unity and strength! We'll win!
Again! One, two, three, and!
Unity and strength!
One more time!
Unity and strength!
- Louder! Again! - Unity and strength!
We'll win!
Blood...
is quite a special fluid.
Have no fear I'll break this pact!
Let the depths of sensuality satisfy my burning passion!
No goal or measure's set for you
do as you wish, nibble at everything, catch at fragments while you're flying,
enjoy it all, whatever you find to do.
Now grab at it, and don't be stupid.
It's not joy we're about: you heard it.
I'll take the frenzy, pain-filled elation.
Loving hatred, enlivening frustration.
Believe me,
many a thousand year they've chewed hard food,
and yet from the cradle to the bier,
not one has ever digested it!
Trust one of us,
this Whole thing was only made
for a God's delight!
In eternal splendour He is dwelling,
He placed us in the darkness quite,
and only gave you day and night.
But, I will!
That's good to hear!
Yet I've a fear, just the one:
time is short, and art is long.
I think you need instruction. Join forces with a poet: use poetry.
Let him roam in imagination,
You'll gain every noble quality from your honorary occupation,
The lion's brave attitude, the wild stag's swiftness,
the Italian's fiery blood, the North's persistence.
Let him find the mysterious meeting of generous and devious,
while you, with passions young and hot, fall in love, according to the plot.
I'd like to see such a gentleman, among us,
and I'd call him Mister Microcosmus.
What am I then,
if it's a flight too far, for me to gain that human crown...
I yearn towards with every sense I own?
In the end, you are - what you are.
Set your hair in a thousand curlicues.
Place your feet in yard-high shoes,
you'll stay forever
what you are!
Bravo!
Wonderful! You were fantastic, Hendrik!
I knew that you could do it.
You were born to play Mephisto.
You say that... ...with a touch of malice.
Not true, Hendrik. To each their own.
Anyway, I'm so glad you came tonight.
Let's skip the pleasantries.
- What are your plans? - I'm learning English.
English? Why?
- I'll be leaving for America. - America? But why?
Because here, my friend, all is over. Haven't you noticed?
You're at the top here.
Thousands adore you. Hit after hit. So why go?
Thousands... Soon they'll be raving about others.
Dora...
There'll always be theatre, believe me.
No matter what happens in Germany.
Then...
Well, all the best, Hendrik.
We won't be seeing each other soon. I'm leaving in a few days.
What? Already?
Waiting around is pointless.
But you'll always do well, Hendrik Höfgen.
No matter what happens in Germany.
It's open!
Have you forgotten, Mephisto, that I never lock the door?
I need neither chains, nor bolts, nor life insurance.
- I bet you've taken one out. - I need no life insurance either.
Sit, my good sir.
You could have gotten me a nicer flat.
- Have you registered? - Yes, sir.
What about the landlord?
- What did he say? - Nothing.
He was drunk, humming a stupid song:
- No neckties, no gold we've got... - Yeah, of course.
He gave me the key and I moved in.
I've been longing to see you.
And how's your wife, Heinz?
She's with her father, thank God.
They're now worried together
about the Re-pub-lic...
About the Republic...
In Hamburg, the foreigners are also
very worried about Germany.
And about German culture,
whose Number One Parrot you are.
As if a peril threatened it...
What are the Jews planning against Germany?
Everybody's talking about it. Even the whores wonder
and they don't care about their clients' pants' colour.
Barbara understands politics, doesn't she?
Is she taking care of you?
No.
Mostly her opinions are the opposite of mine.
- Have you told her so? - No. What would be the point?
Often, words don't say everything.
You...
You know that I'd like very much to sleep with you?
Shall I make the bed?
Yes!
Hendrik! Hendrik!
Hendrik, wake up! You hear me? Wake up!
What happened? You're here already?
I took the morning train because of you.
- What's the matter? - When did you go to bed?
I'm tired. I was filming all night. Why?
The Nazis have won the elections. You know who became Chancellor?
No.
Do you hear that?
So that blowhard has been elected Chancellor!
Read it.
I thought
the Nazis were not to be taken seriously!
Remember that awkward business with Miklas in Hamburg?
I don't have a lot of friends among them...
- That could have unpleasant consequences now. Right?
- Yes. - Very unpleasant.
Keep a clear head
and don't panic
only because that Austrian clown
has become Chancellor.
But there are still opposition parties, no?
Communists and Social Democrats.
They'll make sure he doesn't get too big for his boots, right?
Perhaps there'll even be armed resistance.
And even if the Nazis stay in power, why should it concern me?
I don't have anything to fear. I'm from the Rhineland.
So is my father and my mother. What can happen to us?
On top of that, I'm only an actor. No?
Every night, I go to the theatre, play my parts as best I can,
then go back home. That's all!
Some actors are drawing their own conclusions
and steer clear of trouble
by leaving when cooperation is no longer possible.
You want to act like
nothing outside of theatre concerns you...
Barbara! These were elections
in a democratic state! One party won, that's all.
History has been through this.
I've never been interested in politics, so why now?
Now? Don't you realize what's happening here?
Don't answer it!
I'm not here.
I'm sick or... Say what you want.
Listen. Do you think that solves anything?
To lock yourself in, to hide, to not be at home?
Don't think you can shirk your responsibilities,
they will force you to clearly take a stand.
Here is my stance:
- Hamlet! Shakespeare! - No, my friend.
Either we take a stand or go, if our freedom is in danger.
This is the only form of freedom for me, for an actor.
You can't hide behind Shakespeare in the State Theatre.
Barbara, I'm an actor, you see,
an actor in Germany at all times.
You can go away. Your father, too. His works can be translated.
You can design sets anywhere, go to concerts or buy antiques.
But I need the German language!
I need the motherland!
Don't you see?
- Who's there? - Ulrichs.
- Who? - Otto.
- Sorry, I must talk to you, Hendrik. - You want some coffee?
- No, thanks. - Tea?
I came to ask you to act with us again at the Petrel.
It's the only reply we can give to these events.
An appearance by all of us, a common front.
To show them we still exist
and to preserve our future.
Do you want to get the audience beaten up?
We must work out our tactics.
Tactics will force us to our knees.
We must fight this crushing demagogy.
It's our job to tell the hesitators:
now is the time to
resist dictatorship!
Otto, we are actors.
I'm not talking about a protest on the street, but on the stage!
I don't agree. I think we should wait a few days.
We must make our voices heard tonight.
Otto...
I'd rather stay out of this now.
Thank God I've no performance today.
IMPERIAL POSTAL SERVICE
Film contract...
abroad...
...leading role.
Production Manager Altenburger.
You were right. She is a beauty. She's kneeling by the altar, praying.
Cut! Very good! The second one.
Now the scene where the officers
follow the young lady and approach her
at the Fishermen's Bastion.
What's going on?
Are we done for today?
- The Reichstag was burned down. - What?
They say the Communists set fire to it.
Your wife went to Paris with her father.
She's waiting for you there.
She didn't dare phone you.
Don't go back to Berlin. I'm staying in Vienna.
Many of your Berlin friends have vanished in the past few days.
Otto Ulrichs is one.
I fear the worst. That we'll never be able to return to Germany.
The Nazis have been making blacklists for years.
The professor, your father-in-law and you rank high on one of them.
Please, don't go back to Berlin.
Promise me that.
Please!
Cheers!
- Cheers! - Cheers, to all of you!
To the most beautiful actress in Europe!
When are you going home?
I'm staying in Budapest for a few more days.
What a beautiful city! Then I'm going to see about a contract in Vienna.
I understand you, Hendrik.
I can tell you now:
I'm not going back to Germany, either.
I signed you for this part so you, too,
could slip away... if you want to.
Dear Hendrik, I've learned that you were in Budapest.
The film studio gave me your address. I hope my letter reaches you.
I'm in Berlin now. I've landed a part in a comedy.
During the shoot I met the actress Lotte Lindenthal.
She's friends with a National Socialist leader,
one of the most powerful.
Lotte Lindenthal is a wonderful woman.
She never flaunts what great influence she has.
I told her you were abroad
and didn’t dare return to Berlin.
"What's this eminent actor afraid of?"- she asked.
She saw you play Mephisto.
"We need such actors." She promised
to speak to her friend about you.
This morning, she said:
"No matter what silly things this Höfgen might have done,
when it's a valuable artist, my friend is very understanding.
The general has promised that nothing will happen to you
if you return, regardless of past mischiefs."
Hendrik,
Berlin awaits you. You have nothing to fear.
Nobody can replace you in the State Theatre.
It's evident for me
and for those who rule our lives.
Theatre, ever so tiny, is a happy shelter,
at least for me and people like me.
Just as it would be for you, Hendrik.
Theatre is a mission.
Your longtime friend, Angelika Siebert.
- Name? - Hendrik Höfgen.
Profession?
- Actor. - Where?
At the State Theatre in Berlin.
- Is something wrong? - Not at all.
Here you are.
Thank you.
I don't know if you'll feel at home again here, Mr. Höfgen.
The spirit is different from what you were accustomed to.
Cultural Bolshevism is over.
There will no longer be a chance to appear in your friend's plays
or those popular French farces.
We perform German art now.
Frankly, I saw
no great reason to recall you from abroad.
But Lotte Lindenthal wants you as her partner
in her little comedy debut here.
I didn't want to displease her.
The role of elegant friend
and seducer
shouldn't cause you any difficulty.
I'm so cold.
I'll warm you up.
What? Your room isn't heated in this dreadful weather?
Is this how you anticipated my visit? Nice... Very nice of you!
There's a warm room over there. Come.
No, I'm in a great hurry today.
It would warm us up real quick.
No, I'm not staying here, it's too cold!
This is because of my new maid, who doesn't know her duties yet.
You should have told her your visitor needed warmth.
You're right, but I've only just returned home.
That's another thing. You should have returned earlier.
I'm someone you must look forward to seeing, impatiently.
For hasty meetings, I have my husband.
And besides,
where did you get this new maid?
She's far too pretty!
It's an honor to act with you.
It's so nice to hear a simple and warm humane voice again.
I'm happy to hear you say that, I know you're no flatterer.
Me, a flatterer? I'm notorious
for telling people the truth.
I like honest people.
If she turns around, everything will be fine.
If she also waves, I've scored a triumph.
After the Reichstag fire, Miss Mohrenwitz and I
were kicked out.
Bonetti wears a uniform to rehearsals.
The other day, he pushed me outside, grabbed me and said:
"We've had it with your kind, little Böck!"
My landlady told me to get a new place.
I had to leave Hamburg.
Are you upset that I've come?
When I heard you were in Berlin,
I found new hope
and I thought it was a celestial sign.
- Are you angry with me? - Of course not, Böck.
Pack your things and come live here
till things settle down,
but don't tell anyone.
Make up a story or simply disappear without a word.
To tell you the truth...
I would commit suicide if I were you.
I'll buy you a radio, so you'll know what's happening outside.
But don't go outside and don't speak to anyone.
I've got nobody else but you and I'm scared for you.
- Is Budapest beautiful? - I don't know...
Yes, quite nice.
I could have met you there. Barbara wasn't with you.
No, no, they wouldn't have let you cross the border.
I'm German, the same as you.
My father was a pure German from the North. Why can't I go out?
This is very important, if you refuse to understand,
we'll both get in trouble.
- You're horrible! Like a prison guard! - And you're an idiot!
Go to hell! You... you actor!
Dear Lotte, may I ask you a great favour?
I have to play Mephisto. Do you understand? I have to.
I'll see what I can do.
I really look forward to seeing you
again as Mephisto.
Just between the two of us,
it's thanks to me you're playing Mephisto again.
Certain ministerial circles had some apprehensions.
They feared you might revive your old Faust spirit,
the spirit of cultural Bolshevism, as it was called, in our new representation.
Well, I succeeded in
dissipating those fears.
Cäsar, I'm very grateful to you.
Thank you!
THANK YOU!
Please give these flowers and this card...
- Yes? - ...to Miss Lindenthal.
Here you are.
Good morning.
- Good morning. - Good morning.
Good morning, Mr. Höfgen.
Mr. Miklas.
- Still alive? - Morning.
Fine.
I'm only here momentarily,
I've come, filled with humility,
To speak to, and to stand before, one who's spoken
of with awe.
Your courtesy delights me greatly! A man like other men you see.
Have you studied then, elsewhere?
I beg you, please, enroll me here!
I come to you strong of courage, lined in pocket, healthy for my age:
my mother didn't want to lose me: though I'd like to learn and to know.
Then you've come to the right place.
To be honest, I'd like to go already:
there's little pleasure for me at all, in these walls, and all these halls.
It's such a narrow space I find, you see no trees, no leaves of any kind,
and in the lectures, on the benches,
all thought deserts me, and my senses.
It will only come to you with habit.
So the child takes its mother's breast quite unwillingly at first, and yet it soon
sucks away at her with zest.
So will you at Wisdom's breast, here, feel every day a little zestier.
I'll cling to her neck with pleasure: but only tell me...
...how to find her.
Explain, before you travel on what faculty you've settled on.
- Is this where the cut comes? - Yes?
To grasp the spirit of Medicine's easily done:
You study the great and little world,
until, in the end, you let it carry on just as God wills.
Useless to roam round, scientifically:
everyone learns only what he can:
the one who grasps the Moment fully, he's the proper man.
You're quite a well-made fellow,
you're not short of courage, too,
and when you're easy with yourself, others will be easy with you.
Study, especially, female behaviour:
their eternal aches and woes, all of the thousand-fold,
rise from one point, and have one cure.
And if you're half honourable about it,
you shall have them in your pocket.
A title first: to give them comfort, you
have skills that far exceed the others,
and may grant you a glimpse of
which another schemes for many years.
Take the pulse firmly, you understand,
and then, with sidelong fiery glance,
grasp the slender hips, in haste,
to find out whether
she's tight-laced.
That sounds much better!
Grey, dear friend, is all theory,
and green the golden tree of life.
That's the way.
I bow to the learned lord! You certainly made me sweat, in style.
- How are you named? - A slight question
for one who so disdains the Word,
is so distant from appearance: one whom only the vital depths have stirred.
We usually gather from your names the nature of you, gentlemen:
it's plain what you are, we all too
clearly recognise one who's called Liar, Ruin, Lord of the Flies.
- Well, what are you then? - Part of the Power
that would always wish Evil and always works the Good.
Beneath thy riddle what meaning lies?
I am the spirit that denies!
And justly so; for all that time creates, he does well who annihilates!
Better if nothing came to be.
So all that you call Sin, you see, destruction,
in short, what you've meant by Evil
is my true element.
The General has invited you to his box.
Yes...
It's all going like clockwork.
May I introduce you to my distinguished colleague, Hendrik Höfgen?
Ah, our Mephistopheles...
Congratulations.
Your mask is perfect. It's evil itself, sacred evil.
Yet your eyes are so kind close up,
and your handshake so soft, Höfgen. strangely soft.
Yet it seems the secret of acting is
to portray strength and hide one's weakness.
Well, yes.
I imagine...
you've prepared for this role for a long time and with great intensity.
All my life, Prime Minister.
That's the only way.
That is the secret to greatness.
Best of luck.
And... carry on with the good work.
Höfgen residence.
Lotte Lindenthal.
Höfgen.
- Hendrik? - Yes.
- What's your program? - Nothing.
- Have dinner at our place. - Yes.
- There'll be just a few friends here.. - With pleasure.
- Thank you. - We expect you to come.
Thank you.
Böck!
Just a few friends will be there...
Little Böck!
Tell me, am I a rascal?
Why a rascal? You're successful.
To the renewal of German culture, Ladies and Gentlemen.
Long live the actors.
Cheers! Cheers!
Sadly, our theatres still retain many non-German elements.
We must set up an intellectual customs control system for culture smugglers
to stop foreign elements from poisoning
German language, literature and theatre.
It's not an easy task. This can't be left entirely to our border guards.
All men of culture must do their part.
- Am I understood? - Yes, General.
There are many who don't understand.
Look at this painting, my Mephisto.
A masterpiece of German romanticism.
Where do you think I found it?
An art dealer with a foreign accent had it.
I had it restored.
No, no...
The future of painting doesn't belong to the Liebermanns.
Your Mephisto still occupies my mind.
You've brought this character alive, dear Höfgen. He's a hell of a guy.
Isn't there a little of him in all of us?
I mean,
isn't there a bit of Mephistopheles in every German?
Wouldn't our enemies love it if we had nothing
but the soul of Faust?
No, no. Mephisto is also
a German national hero.
It's just something we mustn't tell people.
Sadly, I must go now.
You know, what? Come to my office at 10:30 in two days.
There will be journalists.
French, Belgian, English, American... they want to know many things.
Above all, what 'Germany' means today, and what German culture means.
I'll tell them.
You can give
specific examples about theatre,
painting, architecture, sculpture.
Plenty to write about.
I want them to be informed by experts.
Would you look at that, why would anyone have such a limp handshake?
- Perfectly true. - I am convinced of it.
- Russian propaganda? - Sadly, in your countries...
So, we meet again. How time flies!
You were wonderful as Mephisto.
He has grown more forceful.
But I liked the other one, too.
I sensed in it the seed of what can now be unfolded fully.
I also liked you in the play with Lotte.
Lotte Lindenthal is the ideal German woman.
Tell me, what are we doing here?
And what do these ugly Americans want? Do you know anything?
The PM said
they were interested in German culture.
I suppose they will ask us a few questions.
- So you have spoken to him. - Yes.
How are you? Nice to meet you again.
I hope this cocktail party
won't last long. I'll have to go see the commander.
All these problems with the old statues.
Deciding which ones to tear down, to destroy. Tremendous work.
As though a statue were that important.
I'd like to sculpt a bust of you, Höfgen.
Who are you now?
Your own face differs amazingly
from Mephisto's.
You look almost shy, nothing diabolical.
I want to sculpt your face, Höfgen. But should I use stone or bronze?
- What is your face made of? - Perhaps a mixture.
I very much enjoyed your Mephisto.
I only had eyes for you.
I'm having an exhibition.
The General wants a preview of my sculptures.
Try to come.
- Here's my number. - Thank you.
Give me a ring. If you have time, come to my studio.
You can relax while I model you. How strange your face is, very determined.
A German face, yet it changes every moment.
That's acting. The rest is diligence and hard work.
I've discovered your secret, Mephisto.
It's the surprise effect, right?
The unexpected.
I've been watching the way you appear on stage.
It's always different.
Sometimes it is quick
without any reason, then, unexpectedly, it slows down.
But it is always unpredictable.
Thus you create the feeling of something original, even if
the spectator knows your lines by heart. This is your secret.
And your glib tongue,
your deliberate pauses, your precise emphasis.
I'm learning a lot from you.
It's important to be unpredictable.
Spectators needn't know
what my next step is, what movement I make, or where I'm going.
- They're not prepared, it's a shock. - Exactly.
Yet often it is but a change of pace,
or a slightly longer pause to breathe in.
In theatre, it's the others who make the king king.
But what matters most is to be precise in one's design,
the alternation of pianos and fortissimos.
Naturally, you need a certain flair, artistic talent, intuition,
or as I usually say, a high degree of culture.
When I hear the word culture, I reach for my revolver.
Bourgeois nonsense!
Yet even the Bolsheviks have learned to preach it
to win over intellectuals.
To say nothing of artists. Isn't it so?
General, I wasn't untouched by Bolshevik trends, either.
And I must admit that for a while I flirted with the left.
Well...
Anyone can get involved in some folly.
Those were troubled times.
Let's have a drink.
Other deserving artists
committed the follies I did.
They now must atone for sins
for which I've been generously pardoned.
It's haunting me.
Please, let me...
plead for a certain person... for a friend.
I guarantee he's reformed.
General, I'm pleading for Otto Ulrichs.
Otto Ulrichs?
Who is he again?
He used to run a communist cabaret called the Petrel.
Well...
He must be a pretty bad fellow.
No, he's not bad.
A bit rash, I admit. A bit thoughtless, but not bad.
If anything, he's too decent.
Once he gives his word, he keeps it.
And I am welcomed back to the State Theatre...
The funny thing is,
I simply can't believe it.
Just as I can't believe I'm sitting here.
I know it's reality,
but I can't feel it.
- Great. - Magnificent, really.
A real German work of art.
Not every German artist is capable of such work.
It is a courageous piece.
Come, Mephisto.
You sign, too.
This is magnificent! Let me congratulate you.
Thank you.
You rascal, so you make secret visits here.
If I may add a personal note:
I believe these are courageous pieces of art.
Courageous, because they capture our time,
the beauty of strength without sentimentalism,
without bourgeois snobbery.
Contrasting the degenerate taste
of the loud-mouths of culture.
We see muscles and clear-cut features,
man
as healthy people want to see it. Strong and beautiful
in his strength.
Warrior-like and victorious in his struggle.
Hello, Hendrik Höfgen. Great speech.
Nicoletta! What are you doing here?
- You know each other? I had no idea. - Very well.
You're in Berlin? Since when?
I came back to have dinner with you.
I haven't seen you for so long. But I have read everything about you.
So where will we have dinner, Hendrik?
Your choice.
How's Hamburg? Surviving without me?
Hamburg... I'm in Berlin to have dinner with you. Hamburg is history.
Things turned out differently.
Have you heard that Kroge is in Switzerland? He just vanished.
He just straight out left the whole theatre. Didn't even tell Mrs. Motz.
- He disappeared. - Kroge is a traitor.
Why must you appear with them and give speeches?
Why? Because they asked me to.
They ask others, too. You needn't go.
Do you think I could refuse?
You can't refuse, none of us can. If anyone says they do, they're lying.
Besides, the General's a nice guy and he knows a lot about theatre.
He's not as close-minded as the others.
And you're a well-behaved boy.
Who always wants to behave well.
- You want to take advantage of it. - Yes,
I like to be well-behaved.
- It brings me joy. - Then you should be.
But you can only do one of two things: either you stay
with me or you stay on your best behavior.
The damned black minx, right?
I can't help being different from what's allowed here.
And it's plain to see so anyone can spit on me in the open street.
I can't do anything about it even if I wanted to.
I couldn't change my skin or my hair,
even if I wanted to, even if I was ashamed of it.
Yet I am German.
A black German and German is my mother tongue.
What am I supposed to do? Where should I go?
I don't know. I don't even know what will become of me.
You think only of yourself.
And like an idiot, I dreamt of us having a child,
- a little girl... - That's the last thing we need.
What are you saying?
Is the child to blame for standing in the way
of her father's career?
That's enough now!
That's enough!
Yes, it is enough!
Enough!
I can see
why your wife couldn't stand living with you.
Here! I stole this photo of you once.
Take a good look at it.
Do you recognize yourself?
I'd like to talk to you.
To say to my face what you usually say behind my back?
I don't know what you mean.
Höfgen would step over corpses. Something like that.
Didn't you say that?
I won't dispute that I dislike you.
- What do you want? - Your signature. Your authority.
My signature? What for?
You want a raise?
Or do you collect signatures
because theatre safety regulations are a bit unsafe?
From a moral standpoint, much seems unsafe.
This applies to more than just theatre.
And what are you protesting against?
Against a leadership that disregards our rights.
But you're a member of the Nazi Party.
You have been since Hamburg.
I'm leaving the party.
That's your business.
I'd like to ask you, Mr. Höfgen, to read our protest
and sign it.
Regardless of my opinion, you are today's leading German actor.
Listen, Miklas, I won't even read this thing.
Be careful not to get yourself or others in real trouble.
Miklas, get the hell out of here!
I won't let a piece of shit like you provoke me.
Dear God...
Congratulations, my dear Höfgen.
Yes, yes, you put it precisely. Some people deserve
to be told to go to hell.
If you were a soldier, I'd promote you. I'm very pleased.
By the way, you don't need to worry. You needn't be afraid.
For the fun of it, I checked your horoscope.
An old habit from when I was a pilot. It said only good things.
- Best of luck, Höfgen. - Thank you.
What's going on here?
Good morning.
Get walking!
To our deepest regret, we must
inform you that Hans Miklas has been killed in a car accident.
Direction of the State Theatre
How awful, such a young fellow...
Although I wasn't a big fan.
There was something disturbing about him. Don't you think, Hendrik?
Disturbing...
That was no car accident.
Miklas came to see you, too, two days ago, correct?
Are you insane?
How can you talk such nonsense?
Why wouldn't it have been a car accident? Like the notice said.
Do you really think the government needs to stage
a car accident to kill a third-tier actor?
We're not in some cheesy play.
People shouldn't run across the road with cars coming and going.
I have plans for you.
It's just you and me, you can say no and remain an actor.
But then you can't do as much for our cause as you could.
Your opening speech made me realize you were more than an actor.
You said what was most important.
Write your CV, Hendrik, and hand it in to me
as soon as possible.
Höfgen!
You will manage the Prussian State Theatre.
Your task is easy:
a full house at all times in the State Theatre,
and a wildly enthusiastic German audience.
Do you understand?
The Hamburg thing...
is best not elaborated upon in your CV.
Also no need to specifically mention...
the Revolutionary Theatre and so on.
Just mention some of your roles there.
What were you actually thinking at the time in Hamburg?
How could you have conceived,
you, as Germans,
promoting Russian Bolshevism?
Incredible!
- Where is your wife now? - In Paris, I believe.
No, she's in Amsterdam,
actively working against her Motherland.
They're publishing a newspaper.
You don't correspond with her?
We have no contact at all.
You'll get a divorce easily. I'll see to that.
German citizens who have left Germany
couldn't wipe us out, so they signed their own death sentence.
Where weakness perishes, humanity becomes healthy.
Politics, like theatre, is a continuous fight.
Every time we rebuild, a new war begins.
But we're not talking about that now.
Hamburg...
"As I was standing at the harbor..."
Lots of foreigners, night clubs, bars.
I get it.
But what is this Hamburg memory
- no offense meant -
doing here in Berlin, the Reich's capital?
Juliette Martens.
Is she kept by you?
You once said during a party, and rightfully so,
that Professor Bruckner was not a man of the future.
And, even more rightly, you parted ways with his daughter.
If you have such good instincts when it comes to healthy attitudes,
why would you put up with this Negro female?
Mephisto...
This is race disgrace.
Don't even keep her picture at home.
- General... - Wait, I'm not done.
I hope you have understood me.
Completely.
- Yes. - So?
- Make sure she isn't harmed. - Leave that to me.
I'd like to request, Prime Minister,
that... she be allowed to leave Germany unharmed.
Agreed.
She'll be taken to the border and... adieu.
Let's not say another word. Case closed.
You'll hold a press conference,
giving information about the theatre in general.
About the repertoire, your plans and your ideas.
In October,
there'll be a big cultural event at our Paris embassy.
I'd like you to attend it.
Böck...
I bet they know about him, too.
Böck! Böck!
Bring me my notebook.
Böck is staying.
- Here is it. - Give it to me.
I want to talk to a friend.
I need to call a friend urgently.
- Find me a friend, will you? - But you've so many friends.
Friends...
Try Miss Niebuhr, Nicoletta von Niebuhr.
Find her number and call her.
You want coffee or tea?
What should I do? Should I say yes?
Should I become director?
Can I?
May I?
Is it my duty? Can I make myself useful?
I mean, can I help anyone? And if so, why me?
Or shall I look at it as a new role?
Or shall I emigrate to America?
I can earn as much in films as Dora Martin.
If I accept such a mandate from this government, then...
Do I really want this?
They need me.
I was about to emigrate,
and the Prime Minister is now begging me
to rescue their theatres.
Tomorrow morning I must give him an answer.
One would say...
that Heaven has great plans for me.
Then you've won.
Will you help me?
I'll be proud of you.
Yes, I'll help you, Hendrik.
If only one could live forever.
Here's your passport with a French visa.
You have five minutes to pack your things.
But why?
We're waiting. You're coming with us.
You needn't thank me for this raise.
I made it a condition for taking over this job.
Everything's covered with dust.
Listen, if you don't clean
the extras' dressing room with the same care as the rest,
I will have to kick you out
of the Prussian State Theatre.
I hope we'll get along.
If you have any problems, come to me.
I would like to treat you all to coffee.
Allow me...
to give you the money.
I'm sorry, I have no time to join you.
Mr. Joachim would like to speak to you.
Fine, let him in.
Stop, Hannelore!
Like so.
Now he can enter.
Please consider what your goals are for me.
You're not like the other directors. One can speak with you.
You pay attention to what people say, you are different.
I must act as if I was paying attention to what he's saying.
When you talk to actors, you must put them at ease.
That goes for me, too.
These premieres are awful.
You have to wear
a frozen smile and greet everyone.
It makes me nauseous.
Do you like it?
I don't! I think it's a terrible costume!
Good morning, Mr. Kappelmüller.
- How are you? - Good.
- How's the family? - Fine, too.
Your daughter is a hairdresser. Maybe we can offer a job for her.
- Thank you. - Good-bye.
Good morning.
Haven't you noticed?
New suit, new shoes, new director...
No?
"...that ex-Bolshevik Hendrik Höfgen,
director of the Prussian State Theatre
is letting his former comrades appear in his new version of Hamlet."
- Hannelore! - Yes?
Has the cast list for Hamlet been posted yet?
Not yet.
Good. Let's wait another two days.
Thank you.
I must offer them more than old party members.
We must cultivate connections and friendships.
That's the essence of the system.
I thought it was time for me to go to that famous Prussian State Theatre,
with that, what's it called now, oh yes, Faust!
With Mephisto as its clown!
Fooling around the whole time, incredible.
And he's their favourite, this Höfgen person, do you know him?
I'd rather go to the Bavarian People's Theatre. Goodbye then.
Why am I doing this?
I must enjoy it.
I can barely keep all the amateur authors away.
When I hire an actor, he has to be blond. No matter his ability.
Most of them completely lack talent.
Or what happened in Frankfurt a few days ago.
Marquis Posa's 'Give us freedom of thought' scene
was applauded. In response, they cancelled Don Carlos.
In Munich, 'The Robbers' was withdrawn.
Schiller, our national poet! Crazy!
And they want us to promote German authors!
But what authors? There's nobody left.
Our good authors have long since emigrated.
Those who haven't aren't allowed to write
or won't.
No, it's simply impossible...
It's simply impossible to offer theatre worthy of the name.
Unless... I dig up some old farce.
With Rococo wigs and white faces.
The funniest part is that...
the regime has discovered
Shakespeare as a real author of the people.
Let's do 'As You Like It',
where the banished return.
Show the opponents of dictatorship that the will for freedom still lives.
I didn't hear that, Otto!
I can't possibly have heard that!
Aren't I a terrible thug?
Am I not doing something deeply wrong?
"Hans Meier Fürst and Niklisch, both members
of your theatre's staff must be dismissed
post-haste for security reasons."
- Good morning. - Good morning.
How are you?
Fine.
Fine, thank you.
- We are short on time. - We will make no mistake, sir.
"The two stage hands in question, Fürst and Niklisch,
...are indispensable.
The loss of their services would jeopardize...
...the theatre's work."
Full stop. Date. End formula. Signature.
GERMANS! DO NOT TOLERATE NAZI OPPRESSION ANY LONGER!
GERMAN IMPERIAL EMBASSY
Haven't you brought me anything from Germany? A nice leatherjacket?
- A leatherjacket? - Yes.
It's very trendy in Germany.
The ones who took me to the border and interrogated me had one.
It's the new fashion for men.
Your eyes are so dead.
Your look is so...
- Empty? - No, listless.
That's possible. I'm feeling listless.
You see? You have never been like that.
- I've thought a lot about you. - Yes?
I believe I should be very grateful to you.
Without you, I'd be in a concentration camp or already dead.
You know what, Hendrik?
If you still like being with me, then stay here.
I'll look after you.
You needn't even leave the house, not at first.
I'm sure you'd find a job eventually. You're so gifted.
- I could have gone to America. - There you go!
I think I really was gifted.
But also a terrible coward.
What would I be elsewhere? An extra?
A stage hand? A technician?
Do you think these hands were made for manual labor?
I'll provide for you. What else do you want?
Success.
Hendrik Höfgen, just imagine...
if you were all mine...
Juliette...
I have to go now.
Shall I see you again?
I don't know. I must go to the hotel.
- Should I come to the train station? - No.
It's not a good idea. You would stick out.
Alright, forget the train. Do as you wish.
That's what I'm doing...
I'm here with you.
Juliette,
I'd rather you stopped writing to me.
There aren't many people here.
- Would you prefer to sit in the sun? - No.
Though I haven't had much sunshine lately.
May I ask you something?
Do you still live alone?
No, I've got friends. And you?
Friends? In times like these?
It's difficult.
How can you still live in Berlin?
You can very well see what's happening.
- Why are you staying there? - I live in the theatre.
And that is in Berlin!
Yes, but I don't think you can judge things from Paris.
You're more than an actor now.
You took an oath. You're the director.
I didn't take the oath, I just moved my lips.
Someone has to save our values for a better world.
I'm playing Hamlet,
whether those in power
like Shakespeare or not.
You're well aware of what theatre means
for the powers that be. It's their crown jewel, a bragging right.
You can't stay in Berlin.
Barbara, I have family in Berlin.
You know I'm married to the theatre.
I can help people who are having a hard time.
If I leave,
who knows what will happen to them.
Empty words!
It's always the same with you.
Your method of self-deception is still at work.
Even if you save a few individuals,
it's only an elegant gesture to your friends.
You legitimize the government via your presence
and become a partner in crime.
You can't choose where you're born.
It is imposed upon you.
An entire nation can't emigrate.
And I, as an actor, I'm obliged to stay behind with them
and watch them. And to show things as they are.
Yes, I live there.
And I can tell you, there are decent people among them.
I've always hated so-called café intellectuals,
just as I hate café resistance fighters.
Real values, such as theatre and art,
always rise above. That's my conviction.
And that's right.
Why did you want to meet me?
Well...
I'm not really sure anymore.
It might even be dangerous for you.
Tell me, Barbara,
honestly...
did you ever really love me?
How can you ask me such a question?
I have come here to clear things up, don't you understand?
How can you accept what's happening in Germany?
And if not, why do you still work for them?
What does freedom mean for you?
I don't even think you need it.
Being loved and applauded is enough for you.
Being applauded is enough. It means I am loved.
And the hatred of the envious does me good.
Barbara, don't make me responsible for your impotence.
- Mr. Höfgen? - Mr. Davidson, this is a surprise.
The check.
The check, please.
Have I come too early?
Farewell, Barbara.
May I pay?
What could I do here?
Freedom...
What for?
Oberon and Titania.
I greet...
I greet this new couple,
a German couple in the grandest and deepest way.
Two young and fresh, yet mature people
of purest race and noblest blood, who are serving
to the best of their ability our new German society
Hurray!
Thank you, dear Doctor.
- Congratulations! - Thank you. This way, please.
Marietta! I am so glad to have you here.
Very nice of you.
General...
Happy to see you.
They can say what they want.
For me, Grunewald is the most beautiful.
So nice of all of you to come.
I'll remain a German patriot,
no matter who may rule my land.
Grunewald is my favourite place.
And where does one find beer as good as in our German cellars?
Cäsar!
Happy to see you.
Síc itur ad astra!
Here...
You can even hold your rehearsals in this villa, Hendrik.
We're very proud of the way you spoke in Paris.
The simplicity with which you answered all the questions and...
the honesty with which you described the state of things...
Carry on dancing. Carry on.
Good evening.
Now that's a surprise!
I won't say no to that.
- Congratulations, my dear Mephisto. - Thank you.
And now, as old Admiral Tirpitz used to say:
"Target sighted! Full speed ahead!"
Full speed ahead!
- I'm looking forward to your Hamlet. - Me too, me too.
Your interview in Paris...
- made a great impression. - Really?
My dear!
Congratulations! Congratulations!
And lots of healthy German boys!
Thank you.
Beautiful.
That's something.
Yes, very much to my taste.
It's lovely.
Thank you.
Cheers!
We have no working hours, just work.
I'm sorry, I must go now.
Be very happy...
Hamlet.
Do you know, Nicoletta, what I've been wondering about lately?
Do we actually deserve all this?
Well, even if I'm strict,
I must still say 'Yes'.
We alone,
representing individuality and art,
can and must rise above
all that happens in the world.
We serve as an example and...
as encouragement to others.
No matter how filthy the world is,
true art will always remain pure and true.
Won't it? I'm married to theatre.
And so are you.
I've tried to contact
Otto Ulrichs about his raise and his contract
for the next season, but he was not home.
I sent a messenger to his flat,
but his neighbour said that two men arrested him two days ago.
Call the Prime Minister
and put him through to me.
If he's not there,
ask for an appointment as soon as possible.
- Hello? - Give it to me.
Höfgen here.
I'd like to talk to the Prime Minister.
Good afternoon.
Please follow me.
Hello.
- What's going on? - Your Excellency...
Recently you helped me regarding a coworker.
I come to ask you for another favour.
It's about...
Otto Ulrichs.
A few days ago,
he disappeared from his flat without a trace.
- Is this why you've come? - Yes, Your Excellency.
Go away. I'm fed up with you.
I've nothing to tell you about these things, they fall outside your remit.
Keep your nose out of such affairs.
I'll give you some good advice: stop meddling.
You'd do better minding your own business,
so you don't get crushed like a bug!
Who do you think you are?
Ulrichs was involved in dirty work.
My State Theatre's director ought not show
such interest in a traitor.
Now go!
Get out, actor!
I know how much I and the theatre owe to the General.
I also know that to a great extent we owe it to you.
That's why I'm asking you, dear Lotte,
to intercede on Ulrichs' behalf.
I'm so worried.
Worried?
But he's dead.
Didn't you know?
They say he committed suicide.
Suicide?
He knew what he was risking.
I think he's more to be envied.
And here is the Prince of Denmark
who renounces rank,
youth and love,
and fights as a lone knight
for the loftiest of ideals,
the ideal of purity of blood and race.
Hamlet is a complex character, too.
A noble, yet simple man.
At the risk of repeating myself, I must point this out:
our Hamlet is a man of the North who kills...
...without hesitation. But, in his self-destructive battle
he shows us the way to the future.
He commands us to lead a pure life.
That is his bequest to us today.
I must add
that generations of actors have wrongly seen him
as neurotic or as a fool stricken with an Oedipus complex
or as a decadent. No, I do not believe that.
Hamlet is a hard man.
Our staging of it will show him
as an energetic, resolute hero.
Hamlet also warns the German people of a danger.
We over-analyze, something we must overcome.
For it is time to act instead of just thinking.
Never mind weary thinking.
Hamlet is the tragic conflict
between action and inaction.
He has to choose
between hesitating and acting.
And we, the bearers of German culture,
have to know what to make of that.
Hamlet is a popular play,
neither religious, nor aristocratic
or bourgeois,
yet for the people, not unlike Greek tragedies.
Given its
popular character, we'll abolish the barrier
between audience and actor.
Everything - space, movements, sounds, lights
and even the spectators
merge into one common effect.
We shall bring about total theatre,
a theatre that shocks.
and arouses passions.
Apparently it cost 60,000 marks to decorate the theatre for tonight.
Not to mention the losses due to this five-day break.
- A modest birthday! - Yeah.
Being part of this is such a punishment.
- Good evening. - Good evening.
- Mr. Director.
- Good evening, Mr. Director.
Only in Berlin can you find a place to have fun.
Dearest Bella, we haven't met in ages.
How are you? Don't you miss Cologne?
You must have a wonderful position here.
How is your marvellous son?
Good evening.
- Dear Höfgen, how are you? - Very well.
- How is the party going? - People seem to enjoy it.
Congratulations on your Hamlet.
You were magnificent. The boss was quite taken.
After the premiere, we went to a party
and he spoke only of you.
Of you and of the theatre. I envy you.
Success is strange. Sometimes you have it, sometimes not.
My dear Höfgen!
You give people something.
Yes, you create.
Here they come.
How are you, Mephisto?
Very well, Your Excellency.
Hendrik, I must admit I found your Hamlet wonderful.
Thank you. Allow me to say a few words.
Mr. Prime Minister,
dear Madam,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
We are proud...
proud and happy to be able
to celebrate this day with you here.
Since I have the honor
of greeting you on behalf of everyone present,
allow me, Mr. Prime Minister, to greet in you not just the statesman
and soldier, but, more than anything, a friend and generous patron of the arts.
For without patrons,
art is but a bird with broken wings.
We admire you as our role model,
love you as our friend obey you as our master.
As the poet says: "May the gods protect you
and may the heart of Rome beat for your aims."
The Prime Minister wishes to speak to you.
He is waiting for you outside in his car. Follow me, please.
You alone.
Nicoletta will take you home. I won't be long.
Well, Mephisto?
A great force is staring you down.
Can you feel this force?
This is real theatre!
Look at this arena. It's almost ready.
I will be the one staging performances here.
Don't blink, Hendrik, look history in the eye.
What an echo!
Hendrik Höfgen!
We shall rule Europe and the world.
We are building a thousand-year empire.
Hendrik Höfgen!
Move!
Get going!
Into the middle!
Hendrik!
Höfgen!
Well, how does the limelight make you feel?
This is the real light, isn't it?
What do they want from me?
What do they want?
I'm only an actor...