Abendland (2024) Movie Script

Dear fellow citizens, the Corona Virus is dramatically
changing life in our country at this time.
Our ideas of normality, of public life,
of social interaction
all of these are being put to the test
as never before.
Millions of you cannot go to work.
Your children cannot go
to school or to daycare.
Theaters, cinemas and shops are closed.
And what is perhaps most difficult:
We all miss the human encounters
that are usually taken for granted.
Naturally, each and every one of us has many
questions and worries about what will happen.
Hey! Get down!
Get down or they'll see you!
I am speaking to you today in this
unusual manner because I want to tell you
what guides me as Chancellor and what guides
all my colleagues in the Federal Government now.
This is serious.
Take it seriously too.
Since the German unification...
No, since the Second World War
there has not been a challenge to our country
that depends so much on our collective solidarity.
We are a democracy.
We do not live by coercion, but through
shared knowledge and participation.
This is a historic challenge
and it can only be overcome together.
Who is that?
I don't know!
Hey!
Get down!
Get down!
You're ruining everything!
Everyone ready?
Showtime!
Stop!
Why are you hiding in there, you coward!
Stop it!
You're going to hurt us!
Bring it on!
Stop it already!
Are you stupid?
I have a family to feed, you idiots!
Calm down, listen!
I'm on your side.
I love the forest.
But this tree is sick!
You are sick!
Freaks! Outcasts! And tree huggers!
We did it! We kicked those fuckers out!
No vandalism! Put out the fire!
Put out the fire! Quick!
No, don't stop!
Shit!
Help!
Hello?
I'm down here!
Help!
Hello!
Help!
The state must stimulate...
The state must stimulate
and not over regulate!
The state must stimulate
and not over regulate!
The national borders must be protected!
The national borders must be protected!
Hello?
Come out!
Hey!
It's not funny!
I'll smash your little pet here to pieces!
What do you want?
Did you put this thing here?
What the hell do you want?
What are you doing here?
Did you put those meatballs there?
Angela.
I'm Angela. And you?
Good morning!
That was really yummy!
Thank you!
Where did you get them?
From far away?
Can you show me where?
I'm sorry about your animal.
It really scared me.
No, wait!
Can you show me the way out?
Wait, I'm coming!
Wait!
Wait, I can't go on.
What does this symbol mean?
I don't understand.
Where are you taking me?
I actually wanted to go back
in this direction.
Do you understand?
Up there! To where I came from!
No, I don't want to go there!
I want out!
Do you understand?
I want to go home!
There's food there?
Yeah? Yummy food?
Okay, you turnip...
Wait!
Is it a passage?
A way out?
What's all this?
This is not the way out.
Oh no...
What the hell...
Hello, Angie!
Aladin, wait!
Okay, come!
What are you doing here?
Did you follow me?
No, sorry, he brought me here!
Out.
Go find us some herbs.
Aladin!
Out.
No Euro-Bonds, as long as I live!
No Euro-Bonds, as long as I live!
Your leg?
What happened?
Don't touch me!
Angie...
Let me have a look.
Beating your head against the wall will
never work. The wall always wins in the end.
Help!
Hello!
Help me!
Help!
I was not a dissident.
I didn't charge at the wall,
but I also did not deny it.
Because I did not want to lie to myself.
Everyone has their way of fighting back.
Silence can also be a way.
Hello?
Please help me!
What are you doing here?
Are you alone?
I got lost.
Down at the river.
Can I have some water?
Don't get near her.
Here.
It's clean.
Angie?
Hey Angie?
What is it?
Come down, quick!
We occupied a clearing.
Two days ago.
The police chased us.
I ran away and fell into a ravine.
My leg is hurt.
Thank you.
Look who's here, Angie:
Your twin sister.
Who is this?
What is she doing here?
She was chased by the police,
fell down and hurt her knee.
Where did you come from?
From the ravine.
There...
No way.
The ravine? Not possible.
I had a ladder.
I mean, I found one.
There was this kid...
He was chasing me...
I thought the police was chasing her?
Yes, before...
Did someone follow you here?
We can't turn her away.
She's injured and the
highway is hours away.
She'll get lost, she won't make it.
Do you have a phone?
I'd just make a quick call.
Don't you have a phone?
Good.
We don't want phones in the colony.
We don't want to be tracked.
How do we know she's even telling the truth?
She could be a cop or some journalist.
I can search her.
She's probably infected with their virus!
No, I'm not.
It's not our decision to make anyway. We have
to discuss it with the others this evening.
Yeah and until then?
We'll put her in the birdhouse.
She can't infect anyone there.
Are you scared of heights?
No.
She's lying.
It's obvious.
Angie, I'll take care of her.
Without growth there are no investments...
Without growth there are no jobs...
Without growth there is
no funding for education...
Without growth there is
no help for the weak...
Without growth there are no investments...
Without growth there are no jobs...
Without growth there is no funding for education...
Without growth there is no help for the weak...
Without growth there are no investments...
Without growth there are no jobs...
Without growth there is
no funding for education...
Without growth there is
no help for the weak...
Everything okay?
Ring the bell if you need anything.
We always discuss important
issues over dinner.
It's the only time we're all together.
Mushroom-potato soup and dessert.
All home-grown.
Thank you.
We decided to let you stay.
Not everybody was happy about it,
but we're one person short now...
So it doesn't make a difference.
Thanks. I slept like a rock.
I feel much better.
You don't have the virus, right?
No.
But if you did, you might not even notice.
I was vaccinated.
But just once.
People here are scared.
Of all outsiders.
The virus, the cops, the loggers...
Don't get me wrong: It may not
look like much, but it's paradise here.
Utopia.
We are free and independent.
We just don't want any outsiders.
We were cleared out two years ago.
At a different location.
An outsider betrayed us.
It was horrible.
That's why it's so important for us
to trust one another.
I don't want to be a burden.
I can work. I'm good with tools,
with electronics and machines.
I'll do what you tell me.
That's not how things work here.
We don't give orders
and we don't have a boss.
We're decentralized and non-hierarchical.
So what can I do?
You can rest and recover.
Please don't keep me up here.
I want to help.
You help by isolating yourself.
How bad is your leg?
It hurts a little when I put weight on it.
A little?
Angie was right.
You're not a good liar.
Sleep well.
Thank you.
Hey, Merkel!
Get in!
Hold on!
Is everything okay?
Do you need help?
There we are.
The good news: You don't have to spend
another day in quarantine.
The bad news: You need a chaperone.
I can do that.
I told the others you want to help.
And that you'll keep your distance.
Let's have breakfast.
I usually go foraging after breakfast.
Just for an hour to clear my head.
There are berries and nuts.
And mushrooms.
We also have a vegetable garden.
We grow carrots, peas and sun roots.
Where do the eggs come from?
From chickens.
I know, but I don't hear any.
That's because they're happy
chickens, Frau Merkel.
They get to run around free,
so they're less stressed and more quiet.
I don't know anything about chickens.
I grew up in a little town in the east...
Stop!
I meant the former East...
We never talk about our former lives.
They don't exist, okay?
Sorry, I didn't want to
sound like a school teacher.
I really need an hour alone in the forest.
Didn't you say you're
good with electronics?
Yes.
Hey, Scarecrow!
Our newcomer says she's
good with technical stuff.
Maybe she can help you while I go foraging?
No, thanks.
I'm not a babysitter.
You're such an idiot, you know?
And besides, you have no idea
what you're doing up there, you asshole!
We're coming up.
I don't know...
Somehow it doesn't work anymore.
So the turbine still turns, right?
But somehow there's no current.
Frau Merkel, what do you say?
We still have the other
turbine that works...
When our electrician returns, he could...
If it's the generator, I can't do anything,
at least not without a soldering iron...
But if we're lucky, it's just the motor.
See? We actually found you a babysitter.
You really know what you're doing.
Sorry.
I wouldn't have managed it either.
Don't think anyone could.
No, thanks.
No worries. I have a very
strong immune system.
I'm afraid of heights.
If I smoke up, I'll fall off the ladder.
Ay, caramba!
Not here.
Here!
We're smoking on board!
The view is magical.
Like a fairy tale.
So you're not an electrician?
I used to repair bicycles.
But I've had to expand my repertoire here.
There's only one of us who really knows
how to fix these damn things.
But he's been gone for a few days.
Has he left for good?
No, he always disappears for a few days.
And that's always when his fucking gadgets
break down.
No, he'll come back.
We all love it here.
It's a tight group and we all hate
the world outside.
What do you do if someone gets really sick?
The world out there is sick.
I'm not even talking about the virus.
But the violence...
The cruelty, the pollution...
Do you understand?
We have everything here.
We grow our own.
We share everything.
And what we can't make ourselves,
we get through trade.
Even utopia has a brack market...
Brack market...
Black market...
You didn't know that, did you?
Here's our top export.
You said there's another turbine?
Hm-hm...
And it works?
Yup.
Maybe we could open it up
and have a look inside?
It's not that I don't trust you...
But that turbine is our only
source of power now.
You're right.
And?
Can you get down alright?
I hope so.
Not too stoned?
Very good, Madame Chancellor!
Okay, why don't we have a look
at that other turbine?
Angela, you alright?
Everything's okay.
I'm coming.
Sorry...
It's been a while since I smoked.
I got a little dizzy.
I'm coming down now.
What are you thinking about?
That it's magical here.
And so right.
Would you like to stay?
I don't think I can.
Why not?
I have to finish my studies.
I made a promise.
Don't worry about her.
She's our pessimist, our skeptic.
She challenges us and keeps us grounded.
But I don't think she's happy.
She doesn't like me.
She's jealous.
Why?
She doesn't even know me.
You have something she wants.
I have to go.
Wait, what do you mean?
What do I have that she wants?
A free will.
You all know I didn't want her to stay.
But if she does, I'm definitely against her
poking her nose everywhere.
Why should we trust her?
She shows up with a half-cooked story
and probably carries the virus.
Come on, Angie!
She's been here for one week.
You don't even know her.
I don't want to know her!
Okay, that's fine.
But I spent time with her and promise
you've got nothing to worry about.
And besides, she's injured.
She stays for now. And when she's better,
we can vote again.
What happens when she leaves?
How long until she tells
the whole world about us?
She has to promise she won't.
So we entrust our collective fate
to a complete stranger?
What do you all propose? Tie her
up? Lock her up in the birdhouse forever?
Merkel and I fixed the wind turbine today.
She didn't just fix the turbine,
she actually made it run better.
With a hand crank.
For when there's no wind.
Sounds fabulous.
She can help us produce more wind energy. A
whole array spread across the forest, right?
Exactly, let's produce more electricity.
Let's build a fucking coal plant!
Renewable energy! Around the clock!
For light, for tools and for cooking.
Green electricity is a contradiction.
It can either be electric or green.
But it's better than burning wood,
don't you think?
Frau Merkel, would you
like to join our community?
Would you like to inaugurate the new era
of green energy with us?
Would you like to stay here
for the rest of your life?
Come on, Angie!
Wait, let her answer!
Answer!
What happens when she leaves?
How long until visitors show up?
And the press?
How long before the police come and destroy
everything we worked so hard to build?
Excuse me, why would I call the police?
I got hurt running away from them.
I'm as much an activist as you are!
No, we are not activists here!
I am not an activist!
Angie, what's your problem with Merkel?
She's a liar and a health hazard.
Each time she breathes out.
She can keep her distance.
We don't want her to stay!
But we can't let her go either!
I promise all of you:
I will never go to the police, ever!
Even if she keeps her word,
she'll eventually tell someone she trusts.
And that person will tell another, and
before you know it it'll be online, and...
But I won't tell anyone!
It's too risky.
Who is for keeping her in the birdhouse?
Listen, I'm so grateful to you all
for taking me in.
I would have died out there
alone in the forest.
What you've built up
here is magical, really!
And I want to help, please.
I don't want to be locked up or isolated.
Isn't that exactly what they do out there,
where I come from?
Okay, everyone's had a
chance to speak, right?
Should we vote about
extending her quarantine?
How long is the incubation
period of this virus?
Who knows?
One week?
Two weeks, I think.
It depends on when she was infected.
What if she agrees to
stay up there temporarily?
Look, she's running off!
Shouldn't we follow her?
It's dark.
We can't let her go out there alone.
She knows everything about us.
This is not the way out.
Come, we want to help you.
I can't go on.
Please take me back.
Scarecrow?
No, I'm Jason.
But you were Scarecrow.
You used to repair bicycles.
But you weren't supposed to tell me that.
Scarecrow talks too much.
And you?
What do you do?
The two weeks are over.
You can come down.
Please come, Scarecrow is waiting for you.
It might seem strange to outsiders,
but right after we started here, we
decided to radically break with our past.
To get rid of all that junk, you know?
We wanted to create
something new and radical.
And the less we knew about
each other's past lives, the better.
For us, sharing couldn't stop
with material things.
Not with food, or tools,
or some old clothes...
That's all peanuts.
We wanted to push further: Beyond
possessions - to literally share everything.
And so we slip into each other's lives
when we put on each other's outfits.
It might not seem like much,
but it's a lot more than costumes.
It's personalities, interactions,
relationships, memories.
We are not fixed individuals.
We're flexible. We're fluid.
Our lives are a collective effort
on which we all collaborate.
We're completely interconnected.
We've been doing it for years.
And we're getting better and better.
But you still have your
own memories, right?
Sure.
You can't just forget who you once were.
Two weeks ago, before you put on this mask
and became Scarecrow...
So, before Scarecrow I was Jason.
Jason...
The scary guy with the hockey mask,
the one who brought you here.
But you're a woman, no?
And you're pregnant!
And before Jason I was Angie.
Your best friend.
And before that I was...
Wait, let me think...
Sparrow. Everyone's darling.
But the others must still recognize
your voice or your body...
Even when you're playing another person...
Being another person.
That was more an issue at the beginning.
But after a few months,
you actually let go.
You journey through like a nomad.
You inhabit each identity, each life,
temporarily.
You pass it along and return
at some later point.
It's like we all write our
individual stories together.
And that increases our solidarity
and responsibility for one another.
You discover things about yourself
by being someone else.
You're less obsessed with yourself
and more part of...
We need help!
What happened?
Let's go.
Angela!
Just a second.
Please Angela, you have to stay near me.
Leave him alone!
Let him go!
Let him go!
He didn't do anything!
He's bleeding!
It's Fawkes!
What did you do to him?
Let him go!
He killed him!
Poor boy.
How old is he now?
Sixteen or seventeen?
He never did get along
with our little ones.
I didn't realize you had children here.
Because they're happy children.
They have their own area.
A great little tree house in the forest.
They learn how to be independent,
what responsibility means.
How to live in harmony with each other.
And with nature.
It's better than all the brainwashing
and consumer bullshit we all grew up with.
Don't you think?
And Aladin? What's going to happen to him?
Do you remember what Angie said?
That we're not activists?
She was right.
We're not activists, we're separatists.
There's a big difference.
You're twenty-four people
camping out in tree houses.
You're dropouts.
You won't change anything.
We don't want to change.
We want to restart.
And Aladin?
What's going to happen to him?
He's resting. He's been through a lot.
He needs help.
He's getting help.
But if you want, then please go up there
and help him yourself.
Don't just stand there and talk!
Help him, if he's so important to you.
I know you have a phone.
I saw you in the forest.
There is no reception here.
The nearest cell tower was
twenty kilometers away.
We burned it down last year.
It's not just a security issue.
It's really disrespectful and disruptive.
Aladin needs help. You can't lock him up
like you did with me.
Enough!
You still don't understand!
This boy is one of us.
He was horribly abused
where you come from.
He is happy here.
One day he'll be someone else.
Maybe me?
Or Angie?
Or Fawkes?
And someone else will
take over his identity.
If you want to stay, you have to cooperate.
Angela.
Angela! That's the way to the ravine!
The way out is there!
I was not a dissident.
I did not charge at the wall
but I never denied it...
I didn't want to lie to myself...
Everyone has their way of fighting back...
The Berlin Wall
restricted my possibilities...
It literally stood in my way...
But one thing that wall didn't manage to do
all those years...
What do you want from me?
I'm so sorry if I upset you,
Angie or Alien...
I promise you'll never see me again.
Look, I won't call the police.
And I won't tell anybody about you,
I swear!
Listen, this isn't some stupid
horror movie, what do you want?
I want to do our ritual with you.
What?
You and I.
I want us to swap our masks and clothes.
I want us to switch our identities.
Why would you want to do that?
I don't want to be me anymore.
I want to be you.
I want to see things from your perspective.
But changing our clothes
is not going to change anything!
I will keep limping around
and you will keep on distrusting me.
I won't be me anymore,
I'll be you.
But you know nothing about me!
We never spoke about our former lives,
they don't exist!
Don't you remember?
Angie, please leave me alone!
Stop it with this shit!
You know, for someone who wants to be me,
you're hardly interested in me.
I like being ordinary.
I like my helmet haircut
and wear my clothes loose.
I don't like to stick out of the crowd.
I blend in.
I observe.
And I don't raise expectations.
I was the best in my class.
My favorite color is beige.
I've wept and fasted, wept and prayed.
When I was eight years old,
God took away my parakeet.
I didn't lose my faith.
I dissected the bird.
I looked for the cause of death.
If I close my eyes, I can still see
those tiny feathers and bones.
A cage for the soul.
How beautiful.
How perfect.
It was an accident.
Please tell them that.
It was an accident.
I'm so sorry.
There's another way down.
If you want, I can show you.
You want to leave, right?
That's what it's all about.
It's just easier for you to leave
if you're me.
What are you going to do now?
Will you go to my place?
And live my life?
Meet my roommates?
Do you even know where I live?
And how many roommates I've got?
Who they are?
They don't smoke.
I don't smoke either.
Does this even interest you at all?
Should I tell you any of this?
I know where I live.
Sure, but you're me now, no?
And where you live
is not where I live.
And even if I told you, my roommates
would never recognize you.
Of course they would.
Why do you say that?
Look.
Nothing here, see?
No liberation.
It's a new tattoo.
Hardly anyone has seen it.
Look: No tattoos. Nowhere.
You know why?
I have an awful allergy.
I tried once and had such a bad reaction
that I ended up in hospital.
You know what it is?
Yeah, it's a cat.
It's Schrdinger's cat.
Do you even know what that is?
I studied physics.
You're lying.
It's a thought experiment.
A paradox.
The cat is both dead and alive.
I used to have the same tattoo on my back.
But I had it covered.
Show me.
Angie, show it to me.
I'm not Angie.
You snake!
You liar!
What about this?
I don't have braids,
and I've got blue eyes!
Angie, stop it already!
Your body, your voice, your smell!
It's all wrong!
Let me go, Angie!
Stop it with this shit!
I'm not Angie!
You're hurting me!
No! Please don't!
Damara Street 17a.
In Paderborn.
It's a new building. Yellow.
Lisa, dark hair, loud.
Don't lend her money.
Leonie, French, nice.
Cooks your favorite dish:
Tofu with cashews.
Your room is the second one on the right.
Next to the bathroom.
Angie?
Angie, are you there?
Angie?
Angie!
Angie, where've you been?
Is everything okay?
Where's Aladin?
Is he still here?
No, he left this morning.
He's okay. We gave him something
to eat and he went off.
Angie, sit down!
I'm not Angie!
Angie!
Angie left.
She didn't tell me why, but...
We swapped masks and then she left.
Do you understand?
Angie left the colony.
And she won't be coming back.
What?
Angie has left the colony.
I thought you should know that.
Angie...
I'm not Angie, dammit!
Please, I cannot...
Just show me the way out.
Please let me go.
I won't tell anyone.
Angie, you don't need our permission to go.
We're not a prison!
Everyone here is free
to stay or go. Always!
You've left us before.
But you've always come back.
Here is your home.
We all love you.
It's your decision.
No one will force you.