Sunshine Page #14

till I get my watch back.

- Guard.

- Get out!

[Door Slams]

[Rings Bell]

Yes?

Looking for somebody?

My name is Sors.

I'm looking

for my grandmother.

You must be the one

they locked up.

Granny Sors.

Your grandson is here.

See, Granny, I told you they'd

let him out sooner or later.

Come into my room.

This is my grandson.

- Ledniczky.

- Ivan Sors.

- Mama.

- Hello. Ilona Ledniczky.

Who are all these people,

Nana?

Oh, I'm not allowed to have

such a big apartment on my own.

But it's all right.

They're good people.

- And Kato?

- Kato's fine.

She's moved back home

to her village.

She couldn't stand

sharing the house.

Poor thing's

much older than I am.

Is there room for me?

Maybe we can get the maid's room

back, but there are five of them.

dd [Chiming]

dd [Continues]

I lost the pocket watch, Nana.

Never mind. Much more important

things have disappeared.

Love. People.

What's a pocket watch?

I thought great-grandfather came

and took it back from me.

Well, maybe it is good

to believe in something.

I've never been much

of a believer.

If there's no God,

and there never was a God,

why do we miss Him so much?

Why did we become

Communists, Nana?

It was our fate.

The Jewish laws,

the camps.

After all, it was the Communists

who liberated us.

I could never have been

a Communist like you or Gustave,

but, even as a child,

I felt disgust...

when I saw how poor people fought

for crumbs on the bread wagon.

Politics has made a mess

of our lives.

Still,

life was beautiful.

I've enjoyed waking

every morning.

I've always tried to photograph

what's beautiful in life,

but...

it hasn't always been easy.

What are you looking at, Nana?

The light.

It keeps changing.

What do you want

to do with your life?

I don't know.

I have to report

to the police once a week.

Difficult.

We should try

and find the recipe.

It's still hidden

in this house somewhere.

Search through

everything thoroughly.

Searching's the only job

I've ever done.

Are you sure

this recipe book exists?

- Or have you only heard about it?

- I saw it as a girl.

- [Knocking]

- Hmm?

Ilona, would you mind letting my

grandson look through the bookcase?

- We're searching for something.

- Come right in, Granny.

Start at the bottom?

[Gasps]

No, no.

[Gasps]

No, no.

Look here.

Behind.

[Gasping]

- [Ilona] Granny?

- Can't breathe.

- Granny.

- Open the window.

[Gasping]

Oh.

[Continues Gasping]

I'm here.

What's your name, dear?

Can you say

your name, please?

Valerie Sonnenschein.

Nana...

your name is Sors.

Valerie Sors.

Mrs. Ignatz Sors.

Valerie Sonnenschein.

[Softly]

Hello.

- How are you?

- I'm fine. Thank you.

- And the children?

- Very well.

- Nothing's changed?

- No, not really.

I'm sorry I couldn't say

anything else at your trial,

but... my children

and family...

Oh, that's all right.

Wouldn't mind talking to you if you

wouldn't find it too unpleasant.

No, of course not.

- I need your phone number.

- Excuse me.

[Woman]

She didn't suffer.

Her walking stick's

in the corner.

Comrade Major,

how are you doing?

Glad that you're

finally out of prison.

- Beautiful cane. Hurt your leg?

- No.

- dd [Clock Chiming]

- [Gasping, Panting]

I have no face.

[Sighs]

[Emmanuel's Voice]

My dear son, Ignatz.

You've now left the safety of the

house in which you were born...

in order to achieve your

life's goal:
To become a judge.

To create laws,

as Moses did.

To render justice,

like King David.

To exercise power, from which

the Almighty has barred us...

or, perhaps, protected us for

thousands and thousands of years.

You are entering a new world where

you will certainly be successful...

because you have knowledge.

Study has always been

our religious duty as Jews.

Our exclusion from society has given

us an ability to adapt to others...

and to sense connections between

things which seem diverse.

But if you feel you have power,

you are mistaken.

If you feel you have the right

to put yourself ahead of others...

because you think you know more

than they do, you are wrong.

Never allow yourself to be driven

into the sin of conceit.

Conceit is the greatest of sins,

the source of all other sins.

Never give up your religion,

not for God.

God is present

in all religions,

but if your life becomes

a struggle for acceptance,

you'll always be unhappy.

Religion may not be perfect,

but it is a well-built boat...

that can stay balanced

and carry you to the other shore.

Our life is nothing,

but a boat adrift on water,

balanced

by permanent uncertainty.

About the people

whom you will judge, know this:

All they do is struggle

to find a kind of security.

They'rejust people,

like us.

Therefore, you mustn't judge them on

the basis of appearance or hearsay.

Trust no one.

Examine all things yourself.

Do not join with power.

Despise all rank.

Do not be ostentatious

with what is yours.

Owning possessions and property

ultimately comes to nothing.

Possessions and property

can be consumed by fire,

swept away by flood,

taken away by politics.

Do not undertake

what you do not know.

This causes anxiety which makes

you ill. Exercise discipline.

[Garbage Truck Churning]

[Churning Continues]

I think of you,

with all my love.

Your father,

Emmanuel Sonnenschein.

dd [Playing]

dd [Continues]

[Water Sloshing]

dd [Continues]

dd

I'd like to apply

for a change of name.

- You want to change your name?

- Yes.

- From Sors?

- Yes.

- To what?

- Sonnenschein.

Spell that, please.

S-o-n-n-e-n-s-c-h-e-i-n.

And what's your reason?

Why do you want

to change your name?

Family reasons?

Problems at work?

Legal problems?

[Ivan] For the first time in my

life, I walked down the street...

without feeling

like I was in hiding.

My great-grandfather, Emmanuel,

must have been the last

Sonnenschein to feel like this.

I knew the only way

to find a meaning in my life...

my only chance in life...

would be to account for it.

My grandmother's words

returned to me:

Try to photograph

what's beautiful in life.

By the time

I finished this story,

the third tragic misadventure

of the 20th century was over.

After the monarchy

and fascist rule,

the Communist regime

also went up in smoke.

I remembered the recipe book

that we had lost...

and suddenly realized

that the family secret...

was not to be found

on its pages.

It was preserved

by my grandmother,

the only one

in our family...

who had the gift

of breathing freely.

dd [Piano]

dd

[Woman]

d Please, God d

d May we always d

d Go on singing d

d Please, God d

d May we always d

d Go on singing d

dd [Vocalizing]

dd [Vocalizing Continues]

d Please, God d

d May we always d

d Go on singing d

d Please, God d

d May we always d

d Go on singing d

dd [Vocalizing]

dd [Vocalizing Continues]

d Please, God d

d May we always d

d Go on singing d

d Please, God d

d May we always d

d Go on singing dd

dd [Vocalizing]

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes