Despair Page #4

But you won't come clean.

But it is the truth.

More shame on you.

Now, listen. Listen:

filming is about to begin

and if anything happens to me

they will call you

and you will arrive.

When he calls me

and I arrive nowhere.

- What is the matter with you?

- I need your letter.

Well!

I thought you would offer

me some respectable work.

Or at least cut me in

on a straightforward job.

I've walked a long way to meet you.

- Yeah...

- What do I find?

- Filth!

- Filth?

Actors... actresses...

pimps... harlots...

I don't want your

decadence, tinsel and flesh.

Think to themselves... yes... think they

are a cut above these ordinary folk.

You want me to paint my face

and mince about, huh? Uh-uh.

Not for me.

Plus, my friends recognize me.

Sit down...

Oh, sit! Sit down.

I'm sorry. No.

If you will take my advice,

you will get out of that business

before it destroys you morally.

Felix...

Wait!

Excuse me, Hermann. Your key...

Felix, wait!

I can see that you're

a very sharp fellow.

You know I have weightier

things on my mind, don't you?

How can I regain your confidence? Huh?

I am not a film actor.

I was driving...

Look!

Have you no scars?

- No identification marks?

- Why?

- Were you in the war?

- I was.

- Weren't you wounded?

- I was a kitchen corporal.

You were lucky.

I was locked away in Russia.

- I have a German father.

- Ah... you were lucky!

I only had a Polish mother.

A Polish mother.

Kitchen corporal.

Have you no scars from hot fat?

- What?

- Hot fat.

Oh! Take it all off.

Excuse me.

How long has this picture been here?

It has always been here.

How could it have been?

- You lie!

- No...

- You lie, you lie, you lie!

- No, no... no, no...

Look... I...

I think I'll go.

- Oh.. excuse me. But why?

- You act funny.

Like I've told you... I... I'm not...

I'm not an actor.

I'm really not an actor.

My business is not acting.

My business will not defile you.

I have nothing to do

with the cinema business.

- Robbery?

- What if it is?

I want to perform a certain operation.

And while I'm performing that operation,

I want to be seen...

far away from the place

at exactly the same time.

- Do you understand what I'm saying?

- Is it robbery.

Listen to me, listen to me, listen to me.

Please listen...

You will drive my car.

You will wear my clothes.

And you will drive through a certain

village from a certain street...

where my fa---, ah...

excuse me:
our face...

our face is recognized.

That's all.

And you will have 1,000 marks.

Small notes.

If you wish.

And you will find them...

in your pocket...

You will get caught with the goods.

It'll all come out at the trial.

You'll squeal.

A thousand marks...

When did you ever dream

of having one hundred?

I don't care for prison.

The food's good...

but the people...

What if it's all a lie?

Some sort of double cross? Huh?

Madness.

Lydia is here.

The woman is very ill.

Hermann!

How nice of you to think of coming.

There's something wrong with my tummy.

It's better now, but I felt

awful in the soul in there.

You know what she is like. She always

gets sick when you least expect it.

Tell me!

There's nothing really wrong with her.

- Woman's imagination.

- Oh!

Aren't you going to stand up for me?

Hermann, go on! Tell him!

Do be silent! Both of you!

I'm trying to think something out.

And you're putting me off.

Do you remember a painting

you made... of two roses...

with a briar pipe.

There was a swastika on the back.

Oh, please.

I remember the swastika but the...

two roses and the briar pipe?

Remember!

Have a look around if you like.

Is that the one?

Yes.

My offer still stands: 35 marks.

No...

It's even worse than I remembered.

Lydia!

- Did you have a good trip?

- Yes, fine.

Yes?

Can I help you?

- Pushkin.

- Pushkin?

Your... Pushkin... letter.

Thank you.

Life Insurance

"New Life"

So...

- Health all right?

- Ah...

- Oh! Hello. Good day!

- How are you?

How's life? More popular?

Life is a losing proposition.

Policy holders are dying like flies.

You don't look too well yourself.

Oh, no. I'm fine.

I'm a... I have a little insomnia...

a little bit nervous...

To tell you the truth,

I'm a little bit... I'm a little

bit depressed today.

What's the matter?

I've received one of those

idiotic blackmail letters.

- It's so stupid...

- Blackmail?

Oh, yeah. Some crank's demanding

money with menaces...

Have a look at it yourself.

It's illiterate but... uh...

I think it makes its point.

- Do you know who sent it?

- Yes. He's a rogue.

- He was in the service of my family.

- Will you take it to the police?

No... why?

He's not quite right in the head.

What's the good of putting

a man like that in prison?

- That's a very charitable attitude.

- Oh, nonsense, nonsense.

Well, I go this way.

- Goodbye.

- Goodbye.

Please... uh... greet your wife for me.

Yes... I will.

But... you know...

sometimes I do envy you

your bachelor balls.

Why so?

I have neither priest nor doctor.

I need them not at all.

So why shouldn't I confide...

in my insurance consultant?

My married life is not very happy.

My wife is interested in...

someone else.

And if anything happened to me...

I fear she wouldn't grieve...

for very long.

Certain things I have long observed.

I wish you better things.

I thought you were never coming.

If I had any money,

I would've paid and left.

Black coffee.

- Vodka.

- Two black coffees.

A beer, please.

Lydia and I are worried

about your drinking.

We think it affects your...

your work.

Never felt fitter in my life.

Your work...

You've lost your taste for it.

And Berlin encourages

your natural vulgarity.

- May I?

- Please.

- If you've come here to lecture me...

- No!

Lydia thinks you should go to the South.

The South?

Did you hear that? The South?

The South... the South...

the South... the South... the South...

Oh, Hermann! Yes!

If only I could get money, money, money...

I'd be a different man.

There is a place in the mountains

where I found my inspiration.

Lend me 1000 marks

and, if I don't earn it back

in six months, I'm a Dutchman.

The main thing for me is that...

The main thing for you

is to get you out of Berlin.

Do you really mean that?

Lydia will adore the mountains.

Lydia and I can't come with you.

Let her come. Just for a month.

You see...

She's sort of jealous of my freedom.

She'll think I'm getting tight somewhere.

What about your new leaf?

Look...

that's for the visa.

If you promise to stop drinking,

I'll give you the money for the ticket.

That's a promise.

I know that I can trust you.

Excuse me.

- What is it?

- It's a man.

More soap...

A man...

- What man? What does he want?

- He says you know him.

- What does he look like?

- Sort of poor. With a shoulder bag.

Tell him to go to hell!

And I'm not at home!

I'm not in the house.

I'm not here! I'm not in this world!

I don't know him.

How dare he?

I don't know him.

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