Mother Night Page #7

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He just hasn't seen her for 25 years.

I don't imagine he's mentioned the three | children or nine grandchildren.

- Kraft, he was... | - Potipov.

Whatever. He was living | in the building for three years.

I mean, he didn't | introduce himself to me.

I went downstairs. | I introduced myself to him.

From what I can tell, you weren't part | of his original agenda.

Just sort of an unexpected perk.

Everything was nice and quiet | until he sent an anonymous letter...

to your protege, Dr. Jones, | telling him where you were.

Then the excrement | really hit the air-conditioning.

It was Kraft.

If it makes you feel any better, | he really is a painter.

I don't think much of his work, | but what do I know about art?

Maybe it's okay. Maybe that's | the one thing you can't fake.

Maybe you're the exception | to that too.

What was Kraft's plan for me?

Well, when he tipped off Jones...

he knew you'd become news again.

He figured he could get you out of the | country easier and stay by your side.

And you could be kidnapped | with fewer international complications.

I see. I see.

Well...

you said there was two Russian spies.

Who's the other? | Jones?

Nah, Jones is | the one true friend you got.

Seems he's the only one | with your best interest at heart.

Who's the other one?

No, not Resi.

No, goddamn you! | Not Resi!

Relax, Howard, | I'm only the messenger.

You're a goddamn liar.

I'm sure she had you thinking about your | new life and how nice it would be...

but it wouldn't have gone that way.

When you got to the airport in Mexico | City, there'd be a second plane...

and off you'd go on a one-way trip | to Moscow, all expenses paid.

What could the Russians | possibly want...

with such a burned-out piece | of World War II surplus?

They can exhibit you | as a prime example...

of the fascist war criminals | that this country shelters.

They also hope you'll confess | to all sorts of collusion...

between the Nazis and Americans | before and after the war.

I think that's our echo.

You've been typing | for almost 15 hours straight.

Me, I've barely written | five pages in as many days.

When do you eat?

I don't know.

I hear your trial starts | in a couple of days.

Where's your lawyer?

He's trying to find the one person | who'll corroborate my defense.

So far I'm told he | doesn't exist.

Listen, Campbell, | can I give you some advice?

Certainly.

Spend some time | in the exercise yard...

or have them bring in | a radio or television.

You've got to learn to relax.

It is important to learn | how to relax.

That's how I got here!

Hey, Eichmann, can I ask you | a personal question?

Certainly.

Do you believe you're guilty | of murdering six million Jews?

Absolutely not.

Oh, you were simply a soldier, | were you?

Taking orders from higher-ups, | is that right, Eichmann...

like any good soldier?

- Campbell? | - Yes.

- About those six million... | - Yes?

I don't need credit for all of them.

I'm sure I could spare you a few.

- Where were you? | - We were worried about you, old boy.

- You are cold. | - I just stepped outside for some air.

- That was a bit of a risk, wasn't it? | - Yeah, it was a bit of a risk...

but you know what Jones says: | "I'll sacrifice anything for the truth. "

This is torture having to stay | in this cramped room...

for the fear of our lives.

How can people treat us like this?

Oh, I don't know, Resi.

You know, in spite of everything...

I still believe people | are really good at heart.

You know?

Tomorrow we will start our new lives, | and then you will be able to relax.

Oh, yes, to relax.

- You know, I was thinking... | - What? Tell me.

I was thinking that maybe Mexico | isn't what we want.

We can just go on from there.

Maybe right at the Mexico City airport, | we could just get right on another jet.

Onto...

I don't know. | We could go to the Caribbean.

- We could go to Moscow maybe. | - Moscow?

That's a novel idea.

- You don't like it? | - I would have to think about it.

I want you | to think about it, too, okay?

- Yeah, if you want. | - Yeah.

You know, | the more I think about it...

the better it sounds.

What can you possibly | find interesting about Moscow?

Well, I don't know. | I'd like to visit an old friend.

You never told me | you had a friend in Moscow.

Gee, George, I guess it just | never came up in a conversation.

What's his name?

Colonel lona Potipov.

- Don't know him. | - Don't know him, huh?

It doesn't matter. He's just a spy | trying to get me to Mexico City...

so I can be kidnapped | and flown to Russia to stand trial.

- That is not... | - Don't even think about it.

God, Howard, this is ridiculous.

Cowboys and Indians.

Yeah, all right, George.

Howard, this is not who I am. | This is the way things are.

Nobody should know that | better than you.

- Yeah. Yeah. | - Sweetheart.

That dream about Mexico... | it was really true.

Tomorrow we were all | going to escape.

It was our mission | to get to Moscow...

but then I was not going | to go through with it...

because I love you.

I told you I was not gonna go through | with it, did I not?

Yes, you did. | She told me.

And he agreed with me. He came up | with the dream of Mexico...

where we would all get out | of this trap together.

- How did you find out? | - American agents.

They'll be raiding our | happy little home any minute now.

That's unfortunate.

Then we must leave right now, liebling, | while we still can.

It's too late, darling. | We're already surrounded.

- Then we will fight them. | - Resi, you don't understand.

I said, we are surrounded.

Does that matter?

Yes, of course that matters. We...

You mean, | why don't I die for love...

like a hero | in a Howard W. Campbell play?

Yeah.

Ja, that is exactly | what I mean.

Let us die together... | here and now.

You have a full life ahead of you.

I have a full life behind me.

All in those few sweet hours | with you.

Sounds like a line | I might have written as a young man.

It is a line you wrote | as a young man.

A foolish young man.

I adore that man.

I'm sorry, I can't congratulate you | on your taste in men.

You no longer...

you no longer believe | that love is the only thing to live for?

Well, no.

Then tell me what to live for.

Tell me anything. | It does not have to be love.

Anything at all! | I will live for that chair...

or that picture on the wall | or that crack over there!

Just tell me. | Tell me what you live for...

and I will live for that too!

Resi, what I live for is...

I'm an old man.

I will show you what to live for.

I will show you a woman | who dies for love.

No, Resi. | No, no, my God.

Don't move a muscle.

The morning after the raid | on Jones's basement...

I was released...

thanks, I suppose, | to my blue fairy godmother.

I was deposited | onto the streets of New York...

restored to the mainstream of life.

I took several steps | down the sidewalk...

when something happened.

It was not guilt that froze me.

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