The Lives of Others Page #3

I will report this to the Minister's office.

Just kidding! Good one, huh?

But yours was good too.

I know a better one though.

What's the difference between Honecker and a phone?

None at all.

Hang up, try again!

- No, I have to get home.

- Bye.

Cold?

Christa, you forgot our meeting on Thursday.

Or did your poet have two birthdays in a row?

Come on, get in.

Get in!

You don't know what's good for you.

Don't worry.

I'm looking after you.

Tell me you don't need it too.

Just say so, and I'll let you go.

I'm meeting someone.

Where do you think we're going?

I'm taking you to him!

You'll be there even quicker.

Time for some bitter truths.

Yes?

Those idiots!

Next Thursday at the Metropol.

Drive!

Christa?

Just hold me.

Good evening, comrade!

You're 5 minutes late again.

Evening. 11th floor, right corridor.

I'm already up here.

How did you get into the building?

A bunch of you guys live here.

I don't think I've been here before.

No, I don't think you have.

Well? Was that nice?

- Stay awhile.

- I can't,

my next customer is at half-past.

I work on a schedule.

At one-thirty?

You won't make it.

Sure I will. Don't you worry.

Book me for longer next time.

Bye.

Georg? Did you hear about Hauser?

No, what happened?

He can't get a travel permit

for his lectures in the West.

Are you surprised?

If he acts so arrogantly,

he should expect it.

Would you let him go,

if you were in their position?

"CMS comes home. 'Lazlo' approves of

Hauser's foreign travel ban."

Have you seen my Brecht book?

- What?

- My Brecht book.

I don't know where it is.

Strange. I could've sworn...

One day in blue-moon September,

silent under a plum tree,

I held her, my silent pale love,

in my arms like a fair

and lovely dream.

Above us in the summer skies

was a cloud that caught my eye.

It was white and so high up.

And when I looked up,

it was no longer there.

- Yes?

- Georg? Wallner here.

What's up?

Georg, it's about Jerska.

He hanged himself last night.

Georg?

I'm going to hang up, okay?

"Sonata for a Good Man"

You know what Lenin said

about Beethoven's 'Appassionata'.

"If I keep listening to it,

I won't finish the revolution."

Can anyone who has heard this music,

I mean truly heard it,

really be a bad person?

Are you really with the Stasi?

Do you even know what the Stasi is?

Yes. They're bad men

who put people in prison, says my dad.

I see.

What's the name of your...

My what?

Ball! What's the name of your ball?

You're funny! Balls don't have names.

It's all in place, Minister.

The latest technology.

Behind every light switch, even in the toilet.

- Measure C in the hall...

- You said you'd find something!

Find something!

I'd advise even my worst enemy

not to disappoint me.

Now get out of here!

Nowack, you're to watch Christa-Maria.

You'll report on every minute

that she's not with me.

We revoked Hauser's travel permit

for the culture conference.

Maybe that'll lead to something.

The two of them are very close.

How's it going between CMS and the Minister?

They're meeting tomorrow night, I think.

That's good! Very good!

We have a lot to gain from this love story.

Or a lot to lose.

Don't forget that.

I used to be afraid of just two things:

Being alone, and not being able to write.

Since Albert's death,

I don't care about writing

or about other people.

All I'm afraid of now is losing you.

You needn't be afraid tonight.

I'm just going out for a few hours.

Where to?

An old classmate's in town.

Really, Christa?

- Really?

- How dare you!

I know.

I know where you're going.

And I'm asking you not to go.

You don't need him.

You don't need him.

I know about your medication too.

And how little faith you have in your talent.

Have faith in me, at least.

Christa-Maria.

You are a great artist.

I know that.

And your audience knows it too.

You don't need him.

You don't need him.

Stay here.

Don't go to him.

No? Don't I need him?

Don't I need this whole system?

What about you?

Then you don't need it either.

Or need it even less.

But you get in bed with them too.

Why do you do it?

Because they can destroy you too,

despite your talent and your faith.

Because they decide what we play,

who is to act,

and who can direct.

You don't want to end up like Jerska.

And neither do I.

That's why I'm going now.

You're right about so many things,

and I want to change so much.

But I ask you,

I implore you:
Don't go!

Well, boss, am I on time?

Let me guess what those two are doing...

Come on, I'll take over.

I don't want you

to do overtime because of me.

"Don't go through that door."

Where's she going?

To meet an old classmate.

You'll have my detailed report tomorrow.

I can manage.

Good night.

What are you staring at?

Soda water.

No, uh... Vodka.

Double.

Another one.

Can I have a cognac, please?

Madam?

Go away, I want to be alone.

Ms. Sieland.

Do we know each other?

You don't know me, but I know you.

Many people love you

for who you are.

- Actors are never 'who they are.'

- You are.

I've seen you on stage.

You were more who you are...

than you are now.

So you know what I'm like.

I'm your audience.

- I have to go.

- Where to?

I'm meeting an old classmate. I...

You see?

Just now you weren't being yourself.

No?

No.

So you know her well,

this Christa-Maria Sieland.

What do you think...

Would she hurt someone

who loves her above all else?

Would she sell herself for art?

For art?

You already have art.

That'd be a bad deal.

You are a great artist.

Don't you know that?

And you are a good man.

"When I begin my shift, 'Lazlo' and CMS

are arguing about whether CMS

should meet her classmate.

Eventually, she leaves.

'Lazlo' seems unhappy about this.

But after about 20 minutes, CMS returns,

to 'Lazlo's' surprise, and mine.

He seems very happy about this.

Vigorous acts of intimacy follow.

She says she'll never leave again.

He says repeatedly: 'Now I'll have the strength,

now I'll do something.'

This likely refers to writing a new stage play.

In recent weeks, 'Lazlo's' playwriting

had been plagued by difficulties.

What she means by her statement is unclear.

Perhaps she intends to

take better care of his household.

The rest of the night was peaceful."

Oh, comrade... uh... It's just because...

He's sleeping too...

Good report.

Really?

I didn't know he was in such a bad way.

Neither did I.

"On One Who Made it to the Other Side:

The statistics office on Hans Beimler Street

counts everything, knows everything.

How many shoes I buy a year: 2.3.

How many books I read a year: 3.2.

And how many pupils graduate

with straight A's every year: 6347.

But there is one thing they don't count,

maybe because even bureaucrats find it painful,

and that's suicides.

If you call Beimler Street to ask

how many people between the Elbe and the Oder,

between the Baltic Sea and the Ore

Mountains despair drove to their death,

our numbers oracle is silent.

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