Original subtitles

I'm sorry. I don't speak German.

P-Polish? Speak Polish?

No, sorry. No Polish.

Papa...Baruch Milch?

Dr. Baruch Milch?

Yes, my papa Dr. Baruch Milch.

- Stop it!

I'm sorry. She does not mean...

* And what is love?

* And what is love?

* A thing of soft

* Misnomers

* Is love

* So...

Two, three, "Qui la..."

Lonek?

Sephi!

Sephi.

Dr. Milch?

* With cat-like tread, upon our prey we steal *

* In silence dread, our cautious way we feel *

* No sound at all, we never speak a word *

* A fly's foot-fall would be distinctly heard *

* So stealthily the pirate creeps *

* While all the household soundly sleeps *

* Come, friends, who plough the sea *

* Truce to navigation, take another station *

* Let's vary piracy

* With a little burglary...

Sorry, I should have waited until you finished before I came in,

but the singing was so great.

Nice to see you. So, you're here.

Come, please. Boys and girls,

this is the famous and talented Thomas Zelinski.

Talented? I don't know. Famous? No, absolutely not.

Well,

famous enough for the North Dakota University

to commission a prestigious choral work from him,

which will have its world premiere in Warsaw,

unusual for a communist country.

Well, not so unusual. I write in Polish.

I'm a German, but my mother is Polish.

I want to thank Dr. Lotan for making it possible

for me to come here and fine-tune my composition.

It will be a great learning experience for all you composition students.

Actually, I hope to learn from you.

I never know if what I write is good or bad,

and I learn about it from encounters,

which can be even devastating.

And Thomas was kind enough to mentor

some of you composition students,

if you behave politely.

No, please, don't behave politely.

I had a teacher in the academy who said art is like sex--

it's no good if it's done politely.

Now, please, continue your singing.

It was really beautiful.

Well, in honor of our guest, let's take a look

at Penderecki's "Song of Cherubim," page 18.

* And what is love?

* And what is love?

* A thing of soft

* Misnomers

* Is love

* So divine

* So divine

* And what is...

Good morning. How are you?

I'm fine, thank you.

This is a little strange, no?

But you got the postcard I sent you?

Yes, thank you.

A Keats sonnet.

Ambitious.

How is it coming along?

It's difficult.

I don't think what I wrote is very good.

How do you know?

I never know if what I write is good or not

unless I feel it's not...

true,

that I'm not saying something I really care about.

Is your text something you care about?

I'm not sure.

I thought that using an important text

is the right way, but...

I'm sure that here at the academy they have a very clear idea

about the right way and the wrong way to write music.

If you want my advice,

don't take anyone's advice.

Now, please.

Lusia?

Three, four, one.

Be careful with the pronunciation.

Polish is tricky.

Three, four, one.

Great. Again, please.

So, I will come to get you in an hour.

I don't think so.

I should go to bed early and get ready for tomorrow.

Forgive me for being persistent, but that's not the way to get ready.

You'll be too tense for the concert tomorrow.

We'll go with some people from the choir

and just have a good time.

Okay?

Come on.

-Where are we? -You'll see.

You know, it's getting late, so I think I will--

It's there.

Down the stairs.

Please.

What's the problem?

Or both. You can say both.

Don't be embarrassed.

No, I had enough.

If you can finish a sentence, it means...

you did not have enough.

Come on!

So, Warsaw is not what you expected?

It's not.

Isn't your father a doctor?

Whoo-hoo!

He probably went

to the medical school here before the war.

He should visit.

Would be interesting for him to see

how everything has changed.

Did you tell him about Berlin?

How about a dance before we eat?

No, I don't know how to dance.

This is a good time to learn.

Don't be scared.

Relax.

Her husband told me she was hospitalized,

so I asked for a telegram with more information.

No telegram?

Then could you ask her to try and place an international call

to the same number I gave the operator before?

Okay, but it will take some time to get a line.

If you want, I can wait with you...

at the bar.

And they will transfer the call.

It's such a curse that we like classical music,

because rock and roll is so much more fun.

My friends were so surprised when I went to the music academy.

I was such a bad boy,

getting drunk on sacramental wine.

You and my sister would get along.

My father loves classical music.

Really?

Is he the one who got you interested in it?

He did.

But you asked before, so, yes...

I asked him...

about what your mother said.

He told me and my sister the whole story.

The boy that was killed. You know the story?

No, my mother never explained what she meant that day.

What happened there was a tragedy.

It was not my father's fault.

The only reason I want to know is

my mother did not have an easy life.

And this thing with your father,

for some reason, seems to upset her.

Really upset her.

And if I can do anything to make it easier for her,

even just a little, so I try.

I know that by talking good things about my mother

I will lose my sexy bad boy image.

So...

if it's not too big a problem,

can I ask about your father?

This is why you came to Israel?

Yes.

But not the only reason.

My father told me and my sister

that he was hiding in a cellar...

that belonged to a Zelinski...

who had two daughters...

Yulia and Agnieszka.

My mother.

- Are you nervous? - Yes.

Well, he did keep his receipt book all these years,

so maybe you are in luck.

No Milch.

No Milch.

No Mich.

No Milch.

No Milch.

No Baruch Milch.

Okay, maybe "Bunio Milch"?

-"Dr. Milch?" -No Baruch Milch.

Can we please look where you kept everything people left to you here?

Young lady, I kept nothing here.

There was no Baruch Milch.

There was no Baruch Milch.

Hello?

Hello? Hello!

Operator, the number I gave you last night,

can you call it now?

I don't care how late you get the line!

Who is it?

It's me. Is everything okay?

Just a second.

I'm sorry.

I heard yelling

and I thought something was wrong.

I'm fine.

Did you hear from your sister?

I think her husband just tried to call me,

but now I have to wait for a line.

Well...

if you don't want to wait by yourself...

How far is the Jewish archive?

About 20 minutes.

This is a really strange story, no?

He said it was dangerous for a Jew to travel around the country.

Yeah.

So, Zelinski, the father, your grandfather--

-Yes. -gave him the identity papers of his son,

Jan Zelinski, who died in the war.

I wonder which side he fought for.

Did your father fight in the war?

Yes. He was an officer.

Herr Mayor Schweitzer.

Thank you for not asking what he did. I don't know.

That's one of the reasons I took my mother's name

as soon as I turned 18.

Did you ever talk about it with him?

He left me and my poor mother a few years before that.

Fathers?

Shh! Shh!

What is he saying?

There's no catalogue. Impossible to find anything.

I'm sorry to say, but we have a second performance in four hours.

-We'll be late. -Okay, just a few more minutes.

I'm sorry. Really, we have to go now.

Please!

It's no use, really.

Please, be reasonable.

I understand what you feel, but we have to go!

Now!

Sephi, please!

Thomas?

"The first of September, 1939,

was the beginning...

of the end of my life."

"Dear Nana,

I found the notebook.

It's all true.

I will photocopy it and bring it to Israel.

You must get well now.

Love, Sephi."

"Dear Thomas,

I just wanted to thank you again...

for everything.

You will be glad to know that my sister

has been released from the hospital.

She will have to go back for more treatments,

but for now, she's happy to be home.

It's almost hard to believe, but she says this terrible illness

is the best thing that ever happened to her.

It made her less... angry,

and brought her and her husband closer together.

Strange how things happen."

"I started working again on my composition,

this time using Polish text from my father's diary."

"Somehow, the sound of the words

makes me feel the music.

Or at least I hope it does."

"Did you get a chance to tell your mother

that my father is innocent?

Does that help her feel better?"

"Dear Sephi,

I was so excited to hear about your composition.

Could you make a cassette and send it to me?

I tried to talk to my mother and explain

that your father did not kill the boy.

She didn't want to discuss it.

Finally, she got mad and pretended

that she was not talking about the killing of the boy

but about something else."

"Dear Thomas,

I'm sorry that your mother is still upset.

Is she in touch with her sister, Yulia?

Maybe she knows what is this 'something else'

your mother is talking about."

"Dearest Sephi,

your composition is so beautiful and so moving.

I knew you'd think I'm just being polite,

so I did something to show you how much I believe in it.

I submitted it to the yearly young composer competition

we have here in the Berlin Academy.

As for my aunt, Yulia,

unfortunately, I can't ask her.

She died many years ago.

However, my mother did mention something

which I thought was interesting.

Apparently, Yulia worked, after the war,

at the same hospital with your father.

Every year I travel with my mother

through the south of Germany

to a small town, called Passau,

where that hospital was,

and... where Yulia is buried.

I always bring with me something to read

because it's difficult for me

to watch how sad my mother gets."

"Each time, I'm amazed at the powerful grip the past has on her.

It does not allow for much present."

Hello, Mrs. Zelinski. I'm sorry we are coming...

Please!

- We just-- - Thomas!

Please, miss. I'm sorry to come--

Mama.

She will not do it. She will not come out.

-But I-- -It's getting late.

You should go back to the hotel and get dressed.

You are not the problem. She has nothing against you,

but you will not be able to convince her

to talk to him.

Does she know I'm very sick?

Yes, I told her.

Does she know that my sickness,

my, death,

is punishment for what my father did?

-Nana. -If she wants him to be punished, she can relax.

He's already been punished in the worst possible way,

'cause to have your child die before you,

well, there's no greater punishment than that.

So, please...

I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you something.

Trying to show some optimism,

I did something a little risky.

I gave my mother a ticket to the concert.

I hope it's okay.

Bravo!

Bravo!

- Bravo! - Encore!

Bravo!

Bravo!

Bravo!