So Pretty (2019) Movie Script
1
Good morning.
How long for your passenger?
How much time for
your passenger?
She's right there.
We just texted her,
she's coming right out soon.
OK, so can you move
all the way up, please?
Sure, thanks.
Hi!
And that's what I want.
Then have it.
I missed you.
I missed you, too.
I want to fuck you.
Like a woman?
Morning, dearies! Would
you like some coffee?
Ah, yes!
OK.
This film tells of four young
people attempting to organize their love.
Their problem is that their
love is already organized.
Their love is organized
in exclusivity -
self-defense
and coupledom.
When did you learn
how to make coffee?
A very special person taught me.
Very recently.
Would you like some milk?
Sure. One sec.
I'm surprised you
even have milk.
I know. It's my
roommate's, but ...
I don't think they'll mind.
That makes sense.
The last time I checked
you were lactose-intolerant.
Yeah, this is
almond milk, but ...
It's the healthy kind.
The expensive kind.
- The expensive kind.
I can't keep up this
lifestyle. My budget ...
Speaking of ...
Tell me.
I've been just hanging
out.
Looking for a new job, slowly.
Where
have you been looking?
I've been posting about it.
Hey!
We could call the
person that Paul kisses "Erika."
Perhaps we could call them
"Bruno" or "Fritz."
Since "Fritz" is very hard to
differentiate from "Franz,"
we'll call them "Bruno."
The name really
doesn't fit them at all.
Like we said,
"Erika" fits better.
This is Erika.
This is my mom.
I've been waiting to me you.
- Nice to meet you.
You're a very pretty girl.
Thank you!
- Stop!
Stop trying to take my girls.
- I promise I won't, not this time.
How many have you taken?
- She's not lying.
Let's not talk
about that right now.
Need to get to know
you a little better first!
Gera is forty-five
and the mother of Paul,
a fact both of them
are trying to ignore.
She is interested in everything.
I mean, you could still
have used it before but now, yeah,
the servers are down.
I remember when
"a/s/l" was a thing.
"A/s/l"!
Yeah, now
people just ask for your sign.
It's the same thing.
What's your
name? What's your sign?
Where were you born?
- Good morning!
Hi!
Oh my god. there's
so many of you!
- This is my friend.
Sorry, I landed last
night. I'm like, really tired.
Hi, nice to meet you.
Oh my god, are you his mom?
- I am.
Oh my god, I heard about you!
Hi, nice to meet you!
You can see the
resemblance, can't you?
Gera just got back
from travelling, too.
Wait, really? Where
are you coming from?
Saint Kitts.
Oh, you were doing activist work.
- Would you want to go out later?
In the Carribean.
What brings you to our part...
- I'm just here for a project.
I'm trying not to work too much.
How was your night?
- Pretty good!
- I mean, I'm happy about it.
I'll tell you more when
I'm actually awake.
Whenever I'm off ...
- You look very tired!
I want to do it right.
Get some sleep first!
- I'm just going to drink this.
We could
see a movie while ...
Did I just get bedbugs?
- No, no, no, no.
We're hoping to replace it.
- I'll send
you some showtimes.
We're thinking about
going to dance later.
Hi, how are you?
It's really nice to meet
you, what was your name?
Erika.
It's really nice to meet you.
You look pretty tired, babe.
You've been on a
plane for how long?
Like fifteen hours or something.
- Oh my god!
It's good, I'm in
New York, I'm back.
You gonna be here for a while?
Not that it's a problem!
Are you OK?
- I used to
live really close by.
I'm going to get
you water, hold on.
Do you want a seat?
No, I'm really great up here.
- Stay as long as you want.
Yeah, just perching and
survying the landscape.
- There's a of socialization
happening over there.
- We're thinking about
going out later if you want to join.
Mom, you can join too.
I think I'll stay home.
I only slept for three hours.
Only slept for
three hours. there you go.
Were you dancing?
- Um, yup.
And I'm trying
to dance again tonight.
Oh yeah?
- Yeah, you want to go?
Yeah, of course.
Let's do it. I
have to work, though.
OK.
- I'll meet you after.
Erika's ...
- Are you all going?
Mm, I think so.
Wait, am I going?
- Gera, are you much of a dancer?
I feel like we never talked
about this... yeah, you should come!
If you want.
- I do want to.
If you're not too jet-lagged.
- That would be awesome.
I'd love that.
- Gera's a way better
dancer that I am.
Yeah but I'll let
you guys have your fun.
I mean, you with
your flailing arms!
You should come!
Sorry.
Ooh, you want it like that.
I want
it to look pretty.
So ...
One second.
Sorry, don't just leave
my pants out please.
I wasn't
sure where to put them.
Well, I put them away.
Good.
Well, if that's
what you going to do, huh!
You're going to mess up my bed!
Just come into my apartment
and mess up my bed!
Can I please get a
ticket to the four o'clock?
Yes you can.
That'll be $15.
OK.
Hi, love.
- Hey, sweetie.
So, I think I'm on the list ...
Yeah?
This kiss is your ticket.
- OK.
Franz leaves with
the yarn, Erika stays.
Franz isn't afraid.
Franz leaves the
department store,
security doesn't persue him,
and he walks through
the shimmering streets.
Erika becomes very
calm when she sleeps with Paul.
Very gentle, too, and quiet.
One time it was so
pretty for the both of them
that Paul had to really
laugh in the middle,
they were sleeping
with one another,
and Paul laughed wildy and came.
It was so pretty, that he no
longer needed to touch her.
Afterwards, they kissed
for quite some time.
Yeah, so we might be able to get
speakers on a truck,
that would be awesome,
but I think also if
we just kind of all
make a lot of noise. I have
these handheld noisemakers
and we can all kind of,
you know,
join in.
And then also we have
these to hand out to people,
if they want to join in
on the noise protest.
Thank you.
- Everyone got one?
Let's put this theory to work!
This is what
happens when you let
white people drag you
into their antifa bullshit.
Yeah.
Totally.
Paul is sitting next
to Erika, and Erika is painting.
Both are at a meeting for the
organizers of the local committees.
The organizers listen to the
report of the district committee
representative and Paul thought:
"Why can't we elect
someone with stylish glasses?"
Erika thought:
"I would like to kiss him."
But this is a film after all,
And people don't think in those.
The people around
them are happy that
Paul and Erika are a couple.
Paul and Erika are also
happy that they are a couple,
especially Erika.
but Erika is also more nervous.
One of the party
members emphasized
that the youth must
join the movement.
And now we must
find out where they are.
We must all be communists.
Everywhere the youth
are, we should be.
In the bars, in the
workplaces and offices,
in the concerts and cinemas.
We must make sure the
movement is everywhere.
The situation is
quite stressful.
Paul and Erika look very
different from the rest,
And they feel it.
I've yet to be
booked for something
that was worth doing.
No?
Everything... I've
gotten arrested before
but not for anything, uh...
virtuous.
It's so weird. I
used to consider myself
totally arrestable or whatever,
and now I'm
realizing that I'm not.
It's kind of a weird shift.
I was like, "Fine, arrest me,"
I can go be, like, the ...
impressive hero one, no
matter how scared I am,
and now I'm like, "Oh God."
"This could be really dark."
- Yeah.
No, that's a real shift.
See, as much as I think that
you should be put in a
women's jail facility,
I really don't want to go to
the men's jail facility.
Do you know when
Erika's going to show up?
I don't
think she's coming.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah, she
didn't reply to me.
She was pretty
ambivalent about the whole thing.
Yeah.
She doesn't really...
Can I take
some pictures of you?
No, sorry.
I'm a student.
Just for security?
We just prefer not to
have photos, thank you.
Just for the signs?
Sure, yeah, OK.
Is that OK with everyone else?
- Yeah, that's fine.
Yeah, go
in front of the faces.
We're actually plants!
We're actually the
new police force.
Thank you so much!
Of course, have a good day.
My hometown's surrounded
by this little mountain range,
so it's kind of in a valley.
And we'd drive up
the backroads, behind the
ski range on the mountain,
when I was younger.
Like me and my friends.
And ...
up at the top
there's this clearing
with a little tower
in the middle
that's missing a bunch of
the first few rows of steps
and we'd shimmy our way
up the rusted metal
and once you get to the top
you can look down
over the whole valley
and the mountains.
And we'd go up and
watch the sun set
over the whole town.
Oh fuck,
is that me? Damn.
Oh, yeah.
Come on, mom, I can take it.
I got you that last one.
One, two, three, go!
Oh, it's you?
I keep missing.
You good.
Gonna make you cry.
One, two, three, go!
One, two, three, go!
There we go!
You know, you have to say "sir."
Thank you sir!
I don't
know if you can tell
but I don't do this that often.
Ah, you're a natural!
Fuck, you
do do this that often!
Oh my god, leave my boy alone!
Leave my boy alone!
Just get in there.
Are you OK?
- That felt good.
Yeah?
Yeah? Yeah?
Yes!
OK, fine, I want it.
Oh, fuck!
No, get my ass!
Harder!
Oh, that looked like ...
That's
almost there, one more!
More!
Yeah, I want more.
More!
Thank you sir! This
is definitely your thing.
Don't do it again!
That's good.
That's good. I want to ...
I want to... get over here.
Oh, nice. Switching it up.
Yeah, but I think you have some
things to actually slap me for.
Do I?
I don't know about those.
That's right.
- Do you want to tell me?
Thank you sir!
It's "ma'am," you fuck!
- I mean, "Ma'am!"
Helmut has laugh lines.
When he laughs, he tilts
his head just a little bit,
holds himself so
he stops laughing,
and gets a little red.
Tonia has to laugh along
too, when Helmut laughs.
Franz even moreso.
Helmut once married one
of those bow-legged types,
a former family-man.
Helmut, when he sees
Franz and Tonia so
always smiles a little saucily.
Helmut knows what's what.
Helmut knows princes
and salesmen and seducers,
and satin shirts and
eyeliners and little monsters.
Helmut is one of them.
Hey.
Hey baby.
I had always translated
it, the word "zweisamkeit",
in the sort of epigraph that
everyone loves from the book,
as "coupledom."
Yeah.
And then this
morning, Raoul was like,
"No, you really need to be
translating it as
"togetherness."
And basically, he was like,
"Well, I really think that these
things are meant in a postive sense."
And I was like,
"No, this sentence is
really obviously
meant to be negative."
But I guess, then,
there's another question.
What do you think?
We have to think about
what it means in the context
of the book specifically.
And it seems to me that
it's super-important
that it has this
idea of "two" in it.
Because the word is like...
It's a...
formed in response
to or in relation to
the idea of "einsamkeit",
meaning, uh,
I want sandwiches!
You look really confused.
I want sandwiches,
I want sandwiches.
OK.
- OK.
I'm waiting out here.
Do you want anything?
- No.
And I'm kind of like, OK, maybe
he doesn't mean "coupledom"
like the "couple form"
or whatever, but he's
definintely talking about
a paired relationship.
It's a romantic partnership.
He's not talking about the love
shared between a group.
If he was talking about that,
then he would have used a different word
that doesn't have
this "two" in it, right?
I mean, that's what
I would would think.
Because you would think like...
if Schernikau really
wanted to write about
togetherness he could have
used a more general term like
"gemeinsamkeit."
The point is,
Schernikau chose this really
interesting and ambiguous word
which we don't
really have in English,
and so you just have to choose
what you think makes
sense in relation to the book
whether you want to emphasize
the idea of "coupledom" or "togetherness."
Yeah.
I mean, the only vehemence
I have is "I don't care."
But you've got to make a choice.
- Sometimes it's enough, right?
I'm like, ultimately I
have to pick one word and
this one works for
what I want to say, so...
It's my translation,
I can do what I want!
Music!
Franz embraces Paul,
pulls him close, dances.
Turns, sings,
the place is much too small,
stretches his arms
to the camera,
Paul takes part,
the crowd parts.
This is a flashback.
Franz opens the door,
and Tonia is there.
Franz smiles widely.
He wants to kiss Tonia.
This is a flash-forward.
Franz says,
I'm glad you came by again.
Cut it, that's enough.
They stop.
More are arriving,
they shout, "Get out!"
Erika turns around first
and says, "Please, no."
They turn around and behind
them there are tons of vehicles.
"The cops," says Helmut. "They
might have evicted a squat."
Paul looks for entryways and
backyards but doesn't see any.
"Shit," says Franz.
He is tired and has
the wrong shoes on.
Franz is terrified of
physical pain, they all are.
But now Erika, Helmut,
Franz, and Paul turn back.
They begin to run.
Franz leaves his shoes behind,
he steps on a burning cigarette,
he keeps running.
In they direction
they're running,
the officers are beating
the arriving protesters.
A loudspeaker says, "If you
don't resist, no harm will come to you.
Remain calm."
This statement is clearly not
intended for the protesters.
The protesters have no choice.
This statement is intended for
the slowly awakening inhabitants
of the houses along the street,
who are hopefully beginning to
ask themselves why this is happening.
Erika simply stops.
Helmut is the fastest of them,
perhaps he could just
run through the police line.
Erika sees that,
and runs as well.
Paul runs too, he runs and runs.
He runs by a woman
lying on the ground,
being handled with
unnessary cruelty.
He falls backwards, sees Franz.
Franz tries to
stop an officer from
beating three people
in a cellar doorway.
Paul shouts something
quite loud, runs,
pulls Franz back,
takes him by the arm, and
pulls him along, and runs.
That's why Erika
is standing still.
Erika sees Paul
grab Franz and run.
Paul hasn't seen Erika.
Paul will succeed in
getting away with Franz.
Two officers lunge at Erika,
she lets herself
fall to the ground,
so as not to take so
much of a beating.
Now I'm missing something.
I'm going to stick you!
Shove it in.
I don't have any tape.
OK.
Better?
You have to rest it still.
- Yeah.
I brought you some water.
Has Erika called?
No.
Hey.
- Hey.
Want some toast?
- Yes, please.
Thank you.
The craziest thing just happened
when I was at the grocery store.
What happened?
I was in the checkout
line, waiting to pay,
and this guy came in,
with a stocking over his
face and a gun in the air,
and told everyone
to get on the ground.
Yeah, I mean ...
The grocery store got robbed.
- Are you serious?
Yeah, it was so bizarre.
But somehow I was
really calm the whole time.
And he was really calm
too. It was sort of like ...
it was almost like
it was happening
in a dream or something and ...
I don't know, I could just tell
somehow because of his compsure,
that, even though I
couldn't see his face,
he must be a really
beautiful person.
I mean he had, also his clothes
were really elegant somehow.
Everything fit really nicely and
he was wearing these wool ...
these wool trousers that
were really beautifully cut.
Yeah, there I was,
lying on the ground, just
watching this guy
walk up and down the aisles
and taking cash and thinking,
"God, what a beautiful robber!"
That's so you.
- Yeah.
But, I mean, it happened really
quickly and then the cops came and,
in the confusion I made
away with the bread also.
But, uh ...
But, yeah. I don't know.
You OK?
Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.
Yeah, it's like almost
like it didn't happen to me.
I love you.
You can't love me, I'm a corpse.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Each embraces
the other completely,
one with their legs
around the other,
one with their lips
upon the other,
one just as pretty
as the other could be.
We thought we should
always think of each other.
And we had to.
But then we didn't have to.
If we were with each other,
we were with others too.
Or
we were always with each other.
It works,
because it works
with the others.
I woke up this morning,
and I wasn't
in his house.
And I got up and
went to the mirror
and I looked at my naked body.
And I saw my shoulders
and my breasts and my hair,
and my legs and my
calves and my feet.
And...
I was so unclear
on what I was seeing
and what was
looking back at me.
I don't think it's
that he doesn't
love me or whatever anymore,
he's just made
a situation that
feels kind of
unsustainable
and is really weird with
me only being here for a bit
and he's leaving soon.
So I'm not really mad at
him but I do feel like
I feel like I'm kind of adrift.
I had him for so long,
for years now, and
he'd become a rock
that I oriented myself around,
that I had an
understanding of who I was
because I had this
relationship with him.
And as my body changed
I could just at least
compare that body
to him and have him
touch me and feel me and
it just kind of gave
me a sense that
I existed
and that I was a woman or that
someone would keep seeing me
through different bodies
and that there was some
sort of continuity to myself
and now that I feel that's
probably gone, I feel really ...
I feel really lost.
And I'm kind of ...
I don't ...
I feel like I'm losing
track of my body
and I'm losing track of the way
people see me and I'm just ...
I feel really scared in
a way I didn't feel before.
I hope it works out.
- I think it will.
Thanks, bud.
You're welcome, any time.
We see the
following frozen images of her:
she has an arm in the air,
she points something
out with her fingers.
she covers her eyes,
she turns something down,
she holds her own hands,
she lifts her shoulder and
her fingers touch her forehead,
she bites her left hand,
she grabs her hair, she laughs.
These images, no sound.
Good morning.
How long for your passenger?
How much time for
your passenger?
She's right there.
We just texted her,
she's coming right out soon.
OK, so can you move
all the way up, please?
Sure, thanks.
Hi!
And that's what I want.
Then have it.
I missed you.
I missed you, too.
I want to fuck you.
Like a woman?
Morning, dearies! Would
you like some coffee?
Ah, yes!
OK.
This film tells of four young
people attempting to organize their love.
Their problem is that their
love is already organized.
Their love is organized
in exclusivity -
self-defense
and coupledom.
When did you learn
how to make coffee?
A very special person taught me.
Very recently.
Would you like some milk?
Sure. One sec.
I'm surprised you
even have milk.
I know. It's my
roommate's, but ...
I don't think they'll mind.
That makes sense.
The last time I checked
you were lactose-intolerant.
Yeah, this is
almond milk, but ...
It's the healthy kind.
The expensive kind.
- The expensive kind.
I can't keep up this
lifestyle. My budget ...
Speaking of ...
Tell me.
I've been just hanging
out.
Looking for a new job, slowly.
Where
have you been looking?
I've been posting about it.
Hey!
We could call the
person that Paul kisses "Erika."
Perhaps we could call them
"Bruno" or "Fritz."
Since "Fritz" is very hard to
differentiate from "Franz,"
we'll call them "Bruno."
The name really
doesn't fit them at all.
Like we said,
"Erika" fits better.
This is Erika.
This is my mom.
I've been waiting to me you.
- Nice to meet you.
You're a very pretty girl.
Thank you!
- Stop!
Stop trying to take my girls.
- I promise I won't, not this time.
How many have you taken?
- She's not lying.
Let's not talk
about that right now.
Need to get to know
you a little better first!
Gera is forty-five
and the mother of Paul,
a fact both of them
are trying to ignore.
She is interested in everything.
I mean, you could still
have used it before but now, yeah,
the servers are down.
I remember when
"a/s/l" was a thing.
"A/s/l"!
Yeah, now
people just ask for your sign.
It's the same thing.
What's your
name? What's your sign?
Where were you born?
- Good morning!
Hi!
Oh my god. there's
so many of you!
- This is my friend.
Sorry, I landed last
night. I'm like, really tired.
Hi, nice to meet you.
Oh my god, are you his mom?
- I am.
Oh my god, I heard about you!
Hi, nice to meet you!
You can see the
resemblance, can't you?
Gera just got back
from travelling, too.
Wait, really? Where
are you coming from?
Saint Kitts.
Oh, you were doing activist work.
- Would you want to go out later?
In the Carribean.
What brings you to our part...
- I'm just here for a project.
I'm trying not to work too much.
How was your night?
- Pretty good!
- I mean, I'm happy about it.
I'll tell you more when
I'm actually awake.
Whenever I'm off ...
- You look very tired!
I want to do it right.
Get some sleep first!
- I'm just going to drink this.
We could
see a movie while ...
Did I just get bedbugs?
- No, no, no, no.
We're hoping to replace it.
- I'll send
you some showtimes.
We're thinking about
going to dance later.
Hi, how are you?
It's really nice to meet
you, what was your name?
Erika.
It's really nice to meet you.
You look pretty tired, babe.
You've been on a
plane for how long?
Like fifteen hours or something.
- Oh my god!
It's good, I'm in
New York, I'm back.
You gonna be here for a while?
Not that it's a problem!
Are you OK?
- I used to
live really close by.
I'm going to get
you water, hold on.
Do you want a seat?
No, I'm really great up here.
- Stay as long as you want.
Yeah, just perching and
survying the landscape.
- There's a of socialization
happening over there.
- We're thinking about
going out later if you want to join.
Mom, you can join too.
I think I'll stay home.
I only slept for three hours.
Only slept for
three hours. there you go.
Were you dancing?
- Um, yup.
And I'm trying
to dance again tonight.
Oh yeah?
- Yeah, you want to go?
Yeah, of course.
Let's do it. I
have to work, though.
OK.
- I'll meet you after.
Erika's ...
- Are you all going?
Mm, I think so.
Wait, am I going?
- Gera, are you much of a dancer?
I feel like we never talked
about this... yeah, you should come!
If you want.
- I do want to.
If you're not too jet-lagged.
- That would be awesome.
I'd love that.
- Gera's a way better
dancer that I am.
Yeah but I'll let
you guys have your fun.
I mean, you with
your flailing arms!
You should come!
Sorry.
Ooh, you want it like that.
I want
it to look pretty.
So ...
One second.
Sorry, don't just leave
my pants out please.
I wasn't
sure where to put them.
Well, I put them away.
Good.
Well, if that's
what you going to do, huh!
You're going to mess up my bed!
Just come into my apartment
and mess up my bed!
Can I please get a
ticket to the four o'clock?
Yes you can.
That'll be $15.
OK.
Hi, love.
- Hey, sweetie.
So, I think I'm on the list ...
Yeah?
This kiss is your ticket.
- OK.
Franz leaves with
the yarn, Erika stays.
Franz isn't afraid.
Franz leaves the
department store,
security doesn't persue him,
and he walks through
the shimmering streets.
Erika becomes very
calm when she sleeps with Paul.
Very gentle, too, and quiet.
One time it was so
pretty for the both of them
that Paul had to really
laugh in the middle,
they were sleeping
with one another,
and Paul laughed wildy and came.
It was so pretty, that he no
longer needed to touch her.
Afterwards, they kissed
for quite some time.
Yeah, so we might be able to get
speakers on a truck,
that would be awesome,
but I think also if
we just kind of all
make a lot of noise. I have
these handheld noisemakers
and we can all kind of,
you know,
join in.
And then also we have
these to hand out to people,
if they want to join in
on the noise protest.
Thank you.
- Everyone got one?
Let's put this theory to work!
This is what
happens when you let
white people drag you
into their antifa bullshit.
Yeah.
Totally.
Paul is sitting next
to Erika, and Erika is painting.
Both are at a meeting for the
organizers of the local committees.
The organizers listen to the
report of the district committee
representative and Paul thought:
"Why can't we elect
someone with stylish glasses?"
Erika thought:
"I would like to kiss him."
But this is a film after all,
And people don't think in those.
The people around
them are happy that
Paul and Erika are a couple.
Paul and Erika are also
happy that they are a couple,
especially Erika.
but Erika is also more nervous.
One of the party
members emphasized
that the youth must
join the movement.
And now we must
find out where they are.
We must all be communists.
Everywhere the youth
are, we should be.
In the bars, in the
workplaces and offices,
in the concerts and cinemas.
We must make sure the
movement is everywhere.
The situation is
quite stressful.
Paul and Erika look very
different from the rest,
And they feel it.
I've yet to be
booked for something
that was worth doing.
No?
Everything... I've
gotten arrested before
but not for anything, uh...
virtuous.
It's so weird. I
used to consider myself
totally arrestable or whatever,
and now I'm
realizing that I'm not.
It's kind of a weird shift.
I was like, "Fine, arrest me,"
I can go be, like, the ...
impressive hero one, no
matter how scared I am,
and now I'm like, "Oh God."
"This could be really dark."
- Yeah.
No, that's a real shift.
See, as much as I think that
you should be put in a
women's jail facility,
I really don't want to go to
the men's jail facility.
Do you know when
Erika's going to show up?
I don't
think she's coming.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah, she
didn't reply to me.
She was pretty
ambivalent about the whole thing.
Yeah.
She doesn't really...
Can I take
some pictures of you?
No, sorry.
I'm a student.
Just for security?
We just prefer not to
have photos, thank you.
Just for the signs?
Sure, yeah, OK.
Is that OK with everyone else?
- Yeah, that's fine.
Yeah, go
in front of the faces.
We're actually plants!
We're actually the
new police force.
Thank you so much!
Of course, have a good day.
My hometown's surrounded
by this little mountain range,
so it's kind of in a valley.
And we'd drive up
the backroads, behind the
ski range on the mountain,
when I was younger.
Like me and my friends.
And ...
up at the top
there's this clearing
with a little tower
in the middle
that's missing a bunch of
the first few rows of steps
and we'd shimmy our way
up the rusted metal
and once you get to the top
you can look down
over the whole valley
and the mountains.
And we'd go up and
watch the sun set
over the whole town.
Oh fuck,
is that me? Damn.
Oh, yeah.
Come on, mom, I can take it.
I got you that last one.
One, two, three, go!
Oh, it's you?
I keep missing.
You good.
Gonna make you cry.
One, two, three, go!
One, two, three, go!
There we go!
You know, you have to say "sir."
Thank you sir!
I don't
know if you can tell
but I don't do this that often.
Ah, you're a natural!
Fuck, you
do do this that often!
Oh my god, leave my boy alone!
Leave my boy alone!
Just get in there.
Are you OK?
- That felt good.
Yeah?
Yeah? Yeah?
Yes!
OK, fine, I want it.
Oh, fuck!
No, get my ass!
Harder!
Oh, that looked like ...
That's
almost there, one more!
More!
Yeah, I want more.
More!
Thank you sir! This
is definitely your thing.
Don't do it again!
That's good.
That's good. I want to ...
I want to... get over here.
Oh, nice. Switching it up.
Yeah, but I think you have some
things to actually slap me for.
Do I?
I don't know about those.
That's right.
- Do you want to tell me?
Thank you sir!
It's "ma'am," you fuck!
- I mean, "Ma'am!"
Helmut has laugh lines.
When he laughs, he tilts
his head just a little bit,
holds himself so
he stops laughing,
and gets a little red.
Tonia has to laugh along
too, when Helmut laughs.
Franz even moreso.
Helmut once married one
of those bow-legged types,
a former family-man.
Helmut, when he sees
Franz and Tonia so
always smiles a little saucily.
Helmut knows what's what.
Helmut knows princes
and salesmen and seducers,
and satin shirts and
eyeliners and little monsters.
Helmut is one of them.
Hey.
Hey baby.
I had always translated
it, the word "zweisamkeit",
in the sort of epigraph that
everyone loves from the book,
as "coupledom."
Yeah.
And then this
morning, Raoul was like,
"No, you really need to be
translating it as
"togetherness."
And basically, he was like,
"Well, I really think that these
things are meant in a postive sense."
And I was like,
"No, this sentence is
really obviously
meant to be negative."
But I guess, then,
there's another question.
What do you think?
We have to think about
what it means in the context
of the book specifically.
And it seems to me that
it's super-important
that it has this
idea of "two" in it.
Because the word is like...
It's a...
formed in response
to or in relation to
the idea of "einsamkeit",
meaning, uh,
I want sandwiches!
You look really confused.
I want sandwiches,
I want sandwiches.
OK.
- OK.
I'm waiting out here.
Do you want anything?
- No.
And I'm kind of like, OK, maybe
he doesn't mean "coupledom"
like the "couple form"
or whatever, but he's
definintely talking about
a paired relationship.
It's a romantic partnership.
He's not talking about the love
shared between a group.
If he was talking about that,
then he would have used a different word
that doesn't have
this "two" in it, right?
I mean, that's what
I would would think.
Because you would think like...
if Schernikau really
wanted to write about
togetherness he could have
used a more general term like
"gemeinsamkeit."
The point is,
Schernikau chose this really
interesting and ambiguous word
which we don't
really have in English,
and so you just have to choose
what you think makes
sense in relation to the book
whether you want to emphasize
the idea of "coupledom" or "togetherness."
Yeah.
I mean, the only vehemence
I have is "I don't care."
But you've got to make a choice.
- Sometimes it's enough, right?
I'm like, ultimately I
have to pick one word and
this one works for
what I want to say, so...
It's my translation,
I can do what I want!
Music!
Franz embraces Paul,
pulls him close, dances.
Turns, sings,
the place is much too small,
stretches his arms
to the camera,
Paul takes part,
the crowd parts.
This is a flashback.
Franz opens the door,
and Tonia is there.
Franz smiles widely.
He wants to kiss Tonia.
This is a flash-forward.
Franz says,
I'm glad you came by again.
Cut it, that's enough.
They stop.
More are arriving,
they shout, "Get out!"
Erika turns around first
and says, "Please, no."
They turn around and behind
them there are tons of vehicles.
"The cops," says Helmut. "They
might have evicted a squat."
Paul looks for entryways and
backyards but doesn't see any.
"Shit," says Franz.
He is tired and has
the wrong shoes on.
Franz is terrified of
physical pain, they all are.
But now Erika, Helmut,
Franz, and Paul turn back.
They begin to run.
Franz leaves his shoes behind,
he steps on a burning cigarette,
he keeps running.
In they direction
they're running,
the officers are beating
the arriving protesters.
A loudspeaker says, "If you
don't resist, no harm will come to you.
Remain calm."
This statement is clearly not
intended for the protesters.
The protesters have no choice.
This statement is intended for
the slowly awakening inhabitants
of the houses along the street,
who are hopefully beginning to
ask themselves why this is happening.
Erika simply stops.
Helmut is the fastest of them,
perhaps he could just
run through the police line.
Erika sees that,
and runs as well.
Paul runs too, he runs and runs.
He runs by a woman
lying on the ground,
being handled with
unnessary cruelty.
He falls backwards, sees Franz.
Franz tries to
stop an officer from
beating three people
in a cellar doorway.
Paul shouts something
quite loud, runs,
pulls Franz back,
takes him by the arm, and
pulls him along, and runs.
That's why Erika
is standing still.
Erika sees Paul
grab Franz and run.
Paul hasn't seen Erika.
Paul will succeed in
getting away with Franz.
Two officers lunge at Erika,
she lets herself
fall to the ground,
so as not to take so
much of a beating.
Now I'm missing something.
I'm going to stick you!
Shove it in.
I don't have any tape.
OK.
Better?
You have to rest it still.
- Yeah.
I brought you some water.
Has Erika called?
No.
Hey.
- Hey.
Want some toast?
- Yes, please.
Thank you.
The craziest thing just happened
when I was at the grocery store.
What happened?
I was in the checkout
line, waiting to pay,
and this guy came in,
with a stocking over his
face and a gun in the air,
and told everyone
to get on the ground.
Yeah, I mean ...
The grocery store got robbed.
- Are you serious?
Yeah, it was so bizarre.
But somehow I was
really calm the whole time.
And he was really calm
too. It was sort of like ...
it was almost like
it was happening
in a dream or something and ...
I don't know, I could just tell
somehow because of his compsure,
that, even though I
couldn't see his face,
he must be a really
beautiful person.
I mean he had, also his clothes
were really elegant somehow.
Everything fit really nicely and
he was wearing these wool ...
these wool trousers that
were really beautifully cut.
Yeah, there I was,
lying on the ground, just
watching this guy
walk up and down the aisles
and taking cash and thinking,
"God, what a beautiful robber!"
That's so you.
- Yeah.
But, I mean, it happened really
quickly and then the cops came and,
in the confusion I made
away with the bread also.
But, uh ...
But, yeah. I don't know.
You OK?
Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.
Yeah, it's like almost
like it didn't happen to me.
I love you.
You can't love me, I'm a corpse.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Each embraces
the other completely,
one with their legs
around the other,
one with their lips
upon the other,
one just as pretty
as the other could be.
We thought we should
always think of each other.
And we had to.
But then we didn't have to.
If we were with each other,
we were with others too.
Or
we were always with each other.
It works,
because it works
with the others.
I woke up this morning,
and I wasn't
in his house.
And I got up and
went to the mirror
and I looked at my naked body.
And I saw my shoulders
and my breasts and my hair,
and my legs and my
calves and my feet.
And...
I was so unclear
on what I was seeing
and what was
looking back at me.
I don't think it's
that he doesn't
love me or whatever anymore,
he's just made
a situation that
feels kind of
unsustainable
and is really weird with
me only being here for a bit
and he's leaving soon.
So I'm not really mad at
him but I do feel like
I feel like I'm kind of adrift.
I had him for so long,
for years now, and
he'd become a rock
that I oriented myself around,
that I had an
understanding of who I was
because I had this
relationship with him.
And as my body changed
I could just at least
compare that body
to him and have him
touch me and feel me and
it just kind of gave
me a sense that
I existed
and that I was a woman or that
someone would keep seeing me
through different bodies
and that there was some
sort of continuity to myself
and now that I feel that's
probably gone, I feel really ...
I feel really lost.
And I'm kind of ...
I don't ...
I feel like I'm losing
track of my body
and I'm losing track of the way
people see me and I'm just ...
I feel really scared in
a way I didn't feel before.
I hope it works out.
- I think it will.
Thanks, bud.
You're welcome, any time.
We see the
following frozen images of her:
she has an arm in the air,
she points something
out with her fingers.
she covers her eyes,
she turns something down,
she holds her own hands,
she lifts her shoulder and
her fingers touch her forehead,
she bites her left hand,
she grabs her hair, she laughs.
These images, no sound.