Sunshine Page #4

Where do you get the nerve

to go against the very empire...

that allows a Jew like you

to become a doctor!

- Or a Jew like you.

- Exactly!

Without the Emperor, you'd be

selling tonic like grandfather.

You only believe in this fairy-tale

Emperor out of pure greed.

I believe in a strong

judicial system...

and the right to assimilate

into the country I love!

You'll never be accepted here.

You'll be treated with suspicion.

- Only the workers will accept you.

- Yes, the Workers' Movement.

You share a common enemy:

Exploitation.

You dream of a common goal:

Revolution.

A new Jewish prophet who wants

to destroy everything!

No, I want freedom.

For freedom, one must fight.

- Let the blood flow?

- Yes, please, let it flow!

- That is my wish!

- [Ignatz] You know what I wish?

I wish God would rip that tongue

out of your mouth...

so you would stop spewing

your sick, vile...

Ignatz! No.

Perfect.

You put a curse on me.

You're better off silenced by

my curse than by a prison sentence.

Stop it! You're like two rabbis

fighting over the Torah.

Your husband's in love with success.

Yes, and I lust after power.

You're a loyal subject.

That's what makes you happy.

You love the Emperor.

Exactly.

You're on his side, aren't you?

- What do you mean, "on his side"?

- You two looking at each other.

- You think I'm blind?

- Are you completely insane?

Stop it, both of you!

Do you know what I want?

I don't want to be accepted

by people in power...

or by people who feel oppressed.

You want to know

what I do want?

I want to be proud

of my own language.

I want to look out of the window and

see a country that I know and love.

I want to grow like a wildflower,

where it belongs.

Can either of you

understand that?

Gustave fell gravely ill and lay

close to death for several days.

Ignatz was shaken, believing his

curse caused his brother's illness.

As soon as you're up and about,

you can go... and fight in a war.

"Assassination in Sarajevo.

Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the

throne is killed. " What's happening?

Emperor Franz-Joseph

has declared war.

It was this shot that determined

the fate of 20th-century Europe...

and every twist and turn

in this, my family's, story.

My grandfather became chiefjudge

of the southern front.

Gustave became

a high-ranking medical officer.

The empire seemed eager

to wage war against Serbia...

to punish the Serbs for what

they had done in Sarajevo.

Ignatz was called to Vienna

to appear before the Emperor.

For my grandfather,

meeting His Imperial Highness...

felt like the most important

moment in his life.

[Door Closes]

Come forward, Major, please.

Your name...

What is your name?

Sonnenschein...

Sors.

Major Ignatz Sors reporting,

Your Majesty.

Please,

sit down, Sors.

I have been told

a great deal about you.

There's no need for me to tell you

how to render just verdicts.

Essentially, I wanted to

meet you face-to-face.

When you're handing out

a judgment,

I'd ask you to remember that the

soldiers standing in front of you...

represent many different

nationalities...

Chief Military Judge

of the entire southern front...

Firmness, but, please,

respect the differences...

and exercise

tolerance.

[Narrator] The Emperor promised

the war would be over by the time

autumn leaves fell...

he was wrong.

Autumn leaves fell...

he was wrong.

The war went on

for years and years.

Ignatz was stationed as thejudge

on the Balkan front...

where he handed down

strict sentences.

Serving the Emperor well

was his highest priority.

Far from home, he did not see

Valerie or his sons for four years.

Major?

The Emperor is dead.

[Knocking,

Door Opens]

[Narrator] That very night Ignatz

received a telegram from Valerie.

Emmanuel Sonnenschein

was also dead.

[Sighing]

[Sobs Quietly]

Ignatz took the coincidence of his

father's death and the Emperor's...

to be a strange

and significant omen.

dd [Rabbi, Hebrew]

- [Rabbi] Amen.

- [Congregation] Amen.

dd [Continues]

dd

[All]

Amen.

dd [Rabbi Continues]

Major...

sorry to bother you.

- Is the major Jewish?

- What is it, please?

I'm town clerk, and

I'm well-acquainted...

with the officers

being court-martialed.

Lieutenant Branko Susinsky

is Jewish.

L-I thought the major

would like to know this.

I am an officer of the Emperor first

and foremost, sir. Good night, sir.

[Distant Explosions]

[Knocking]

Major, sir?

Major?

I beg to report, sir,

that we have surrendered.

- It's over, sir.

- Why are you grinning, man?

- We've lost the war.

- We lost, but we're still alive.

[Jubilant Cheering,

Gunfire]

[Cheering, Gunfire

Continue]

[Narrator] Everyone was

overjoyed that the war was over...

and yet Ignatz felt that

a great time had passed...

because the liberal empire that

had given him so much had collapsed.

[Valerie] Your babies

have grown into young men.

[Ignatz, Chuckling]

A very fat Adam.

These are very good.

Very good.

[Chuckling]

It is difficult for me to say,

but I'm going to divorce you.

I promise to raise our sons

to love and respect you as I do,

but I'm forced to accept you

as a man far different...

from the man

I'd hoped you'd become.

You are... now a man

without feeling.

"Without feeling"?

[Sighs]

I cannot allow myself

to show my feelings.

This is my job.

I have to control myself.

Gustave is

so completely different.

[Ignatz]

Gustave?

Gustave is your lover,

isn't he?

- Admit it.

- [Laughs] You're mad.

- How long have you been lying?

- I've never lied to you.

Then when did you

stop loving me?

I haven't stopped. I'm your sister.

I'll always be your sister.

You're not my sister.

You are my wife.

Some son of a b*tch

has seduced you,

so you've decided that from now on

I'm your brother.

No, I'm not your brother.

I'm your husband.

Neither my husband nor my brother

can give me what I need.

I'll suffocate

without love in my life.

For you, it's enough

to love the Emperor.

All you need is the illusion

that he loves you in return.

Ignatz!

I've made myself clear.

You never believed

I was in love with you?

- You never were.

- Yes! Yes!

No, I loved you.

I seduced you, and you let me

because you knew I was safe.

You knew I'd always stand by you

because I'm your sister!

- I love you, Valerie.

- Stop it!

Valerie, I love you.

I do.

- I love you, Valerie.

- Stop it!

[Rips Dress]

I love you.

[Grunting]

I love you.

[Grunting]

[Panting]

[Sobs]

[Sobs]

But I love you.

Put the teddy bear down.

[Glass Shatters]

I'll do it.

Are you really

leaving?

Yes.

When?

I think it's best

if I go today, before we...

- break our entire inheritance.

- I love you.

And I love you.

[Narrator] The monarchy crumbled.

In Hungary, revolution erupted.

In 1919,

the Communists took power.

It occurred to Ignatz

that the empire...

and his marriage to Valerie

fell apart in much the same way.

Ungrateful bastards. Everything

you have, you owe to the empire.

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