Original subtitles

Take me in your arms.

Germany is too far away.

I look out of the window... ...and i only see desert.

No oases, no palms, no caravans.

And the day after tomorrow the first tourists will arrive.

Do you know what they'll do to you...

...if everything isn't like it's pictured in the brochure?

I can imagine.

But I must just bore you. - No.

Your last evening... You certainly won't feel like listening...

to all the lamenting of a hotel manager, do you?

Tell me.

You are nice.

I'm not used to nice men anymore.

In my branch they only think of one thing...

...how they can finish me.

They look for a weakness and then they'll mercilessly befall you.

And how did you solve it?

I drove to the slums. i rented men, i rented camels...

...finished, worn-out camels.

I have compiled a caravan and had them walk past the hotel every day.

You should know they're walking past again right now.

"Caravan of the moon" will be announced through the speaker...

...and the tourists will take their pictures with their mouths wide open.

And the voice will say...

...that the caravan will only be seen once every raining season.

I think you did just fine.

But the price... always work, always hostility.

You know, I am lonelier than a pensioner on Mallorca.

I think you're a wonderful lady.

Be right back.

You won't leave, promise?

I'd like to see the caravan.

Keep your hands off that man. Don't look at me, look in the mirror.

You're not careful enough.

Do you really need that money?

You become greedy and walk right into a trap.

It's like with love...

If you look for it too desperately, others can tell and turn away.

Only the relaxed find their prey. - Who are you, the hotel detective?

No I'm the... hotel thief.

I don't like others messing about in my territory.

Look.

He tests me.

Or he sets up a trap for you. - He's too dumb.

You know what? Let him go. Come with me, i have a wonderful balcony.

We could have tea.

Is there still this nice old custom in Germany?

Brotherhood drinking.

Yes, like it was called back then.

How much do you need for a man? - Who are you, the hotel detective?

You're out of luck: I'm a German policeman. - Why out of luck?

You won't get a deal with me.

But we're in Marocco. - Marocco... a nice country.

The sun, the sea.

Take your money and get out. - See?

They pay for my vacation and I just be on my guard.

And when i catch a bitch like you, I get a nicer room and a bonus.

And I may come back soon. - How much do you want?

I already have everything.

Cut the crap.

If you had looked closer at my stuff...

...you would probably have spotted these photos.

Do you really think i would jeopardise this for lay with an aging thief?

Thanks. - For what?

Hue #72? - #73.

Looks good. - Oh stop, I look like a fruit.

How old? No. Your children all grown up already?

I can't believe it, you're pulling my leg.

The only explanation i have is your "lust for life" ...keeps you so young.

Do you know how cellulitis creme tastes?

You won't believe how much of this stuff i had to swallow already.

And sunblocker, coconut oil, tan lotion.

I've already licked all forms of chemical crap from these bodies.

I've once heard that the average man ingests...

...eight kilos of cosmetic products throughout his life.

Only coming from the face!

What do men taste of? - No idea.

I take care of them beforehand.

Look.

Please.

A villa with three bathrooms.

Two sons that study marine biology or attend business school or something.

A husband that has abandoned her for a younger girl. And a dog.

If you know exactly how she feels and then you have to sleep in her bed...

...or you're "permitted to".

Tomorrow morning she will leave. And today I have to...sleep with her.

Make yourself comfortable, take a bath. Order what you want.

There's even German TV.

I disgust myself. Please stay.

I have waited so long for someone like you .

I'm glad that you stayed.

Open!

I only have taken 1000 Mark. For a ticket.

I don't care!

I helped you! - Please be calm!

We could have fleeced them all! Then we would have left together...

Where to?

To Bora-Bora.

Why?

No fake caravan. No fake skin. No fake sea.

A house, the two of us, a veranda and two rocking chairs.

Almost sounds like one of my own tall tales.

You don't believe me? - Not a word.

I feel old and tired.

I don't have time for such phantasms anymore. Look for somebody younger.

Where will you go? - To Cologne.

And what do you want to do there? Pick up people at the fair?

I want to go home. - Home... that's further away than Bora-Bora.

Why?

I want to get clean-living. - Clean-living?

Who's the one with the phantasms?

You must have put up with a lot, don't you? - Do I look like it?

When i tried to... slap you earlier, you didn't even flinch.

And your loot from all those years? You've invested it somewhere?

I've sent it to my sister.

The little sister that has fallen ill with leukaemia...

...and you had to do everything to pay for her expensive medication.

Or a new kidney.

Did you tell that to all the men?

I paid for her studies.

Does she know how you've earned your money?

I will give you back the 1000 Mark.

You don't believe me?

I will be there next week, waiting for you.

I will bring you the money.

I won't wait for the money, I'll wait for you.

Petra! My god, you've scared me.

What are you doing here? - Some crappy congress.

And you don't live at a hotel? - No.

Why didn't you call?

Well, you know, I work for hotels, I live in hotels, I eat in hotels...

...I just cannot see them anymore.

Just the breakfast buffet disgusts me. So I just left.

Oh crap.

Shit!

We haven't seen each other for six years...

...and today of all days I've taken a sleeping pill.

And now I don't get it out again.

Do you already feel anything? - A little.

When did you take it? - Fifteen minutes ago?

In ten minutes you'll be gone.

If you just had called, I would have cooked. A duck maybe.

I would have done your room and we would have drunk wine...

...on the veranda... - Hey Franziska! I'll still be there tomorrow.

How did you get in here anyway? - With a key.

From your stash? - Hm.

And? Where is it? - It's a STASH.

Come on, tell me.

Next to the entrance, beneath the bars.

Mine was in the tree. - I've known that forever.

"My honey, my loved one."

"No wine or woman, just the singing from the megaphones of the mosque comes..."

"Shall we call this my exile? The vile mammon..."

"But it becomes more and more from day to day, from month to month..."

"Soon it will be enough, and I will take you in my arms again."

I haven't dined so good like this for years.

I always wondered how she got the butter into the duck.

She told me short before of her death.

She had hoped that you will come until the end.

Mom was right. And I still defended you every time.

I've always told her that it must have been somebody else.

And did she believed you? - No, but perhaps she might have forgiven you.

No she wouldn't have.

Sometimes it doesn't work another way. - On the contrary.

She didn't die because of that. - You're mean.

How long do you intend to stay?

Lately I've been thinking much about our house.

I even thought about staying here forever.

I have to get up early tomorrow.

Do you stay here? - I'll tidy up.

What's your company called again? - "The Translator."

Isn't that a man?

There is no female gender in English. - Franziska?

My money is in the American Citybank. The Citybank in Germany isn't alike.

Or does one say "the same"?

"The same." - Never mind!

Can you lend me money? - How much?

1000 Mark.

Good night. - Night.

Do we go upstairs? - Hm.

Miriam? - Yes?

Can you lend me 1000 Mark? - Say what?

Why not even 50000? Franziska, it's the end of the month!

I know.

MAY THE YOUNG LADY IN COACH FOUR PLEASE PUT OUT HER CIGARETTE?

Where have you been? - Congress. And you?

How was your day? - Exhausting.

Tell me something about your work.

Petra, honestly, I'm glad to come home without having to think about work.

Come on. Anything. - What, anything?

Anything about the office. About your employees.

Isn't it hard for them? A woman for a boss?

"A hard winter was imminent for the family."

"At least for the family in the era of atomic threats."

"The others took themselves off." - What's the point of that?

These people here, they've translated...

..."nuclear family" with "family in the era of atomic threats."

This isn't a translation, this is fraud...

...against the reader, the author and the text.

The publisher pays 11,50 Mark per page.

And for that you can't translate, but only scam. And I don't do that.

I don't sell out, I don't defraud, I won't go back to the office.

You won't go back to the office? - No. Not at all.

I don't understand.

Do you know what this means, "nuclear family?" "Core family."

If you want to make a living of translating, you have to cheat.

And I don't do that.

I don't cheat! Never!

And what DO you do?

I do simultaneous translations, because I don't screw anybody over with it.

And how long are you doing it already? - For nearly a year.

In Bonn? - As well.

Official visits? - Among other things, yes.

Congresses? - Yes.

Say, why don't you use the dishwasher?

It's broken.

And how much do you earn there?

I'm tired.

Did you think of my money?

Oh, I forgot it. Tomorrow, okay?

Finally.

Oh. Crap!

Here!

You have the first and the second floor. Channel 42.

NFC juice!

No idea who thinks of such things.

Come on, hurry up!

Anything else? - On the back.

The "US body shaper". - Well, today seems to be a genuine "health day."

Come on, hurry up! - Yes.

LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, A QUESTION FROM OUR HEALTH FOOD STORE:

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NFC JUICE AND CONVENTIONAL JUICE OR NECTAR?

THE ANSWER IS FAIRLY EASY: JUICE AND NECTAR ARE MADE FROM CONCENTRATE.

THE NFC JUICE, HOWEVER, DIRECTLY FROM THE FRUIT.

WHEN NFC JUICE WORKS FROM THE INSIDE, THE US BODY SHAPER ENSUES FROM THE OUTSIDE.

AN EASY-TO-OPERATE FITNESS DEVICE THAT ATTENDS TO THE LITTLE PROBLEM AREAS LIKE...

...BELLY...LEGS...BOTTOM...

Shit!

I didn't mean to lie to you. I meant to tell you yesterday.

You've always wished that I became something.

That I become a successful lady.

Rich, independent. A man in Armani shirts, Gucci loafers. - What are you talking about?

You didn't lie about the studies, right? - No.

And the doctorate? - Neither.

And why the entire education?

This isn't even work you're doing, this is scutwork!

What's happened to the office?

You know, I really wanted you to come. That you saw my nice office.

And that we'd both drink cappuchinos at my large desk.

I even stashed a bottle of cognac, like all the guys do,

...and we would have had a laugh about it.

What happened?

There were two of us, and there was this offer. A prestigious translation office.

Steady order situation, fixed customer base. And then we took it over.

The biggest share was supposed to come from the embassies.

We wanted to use that to fund our book translations.

Don't you know that if you translate, it's like creating a whole new work?

And you need time and money for that.

And then?

Well, the order situation wasn't really that steady...

...the embassies one by one moved to Berlin.

And... in the office building... first the canteen closed down,...

...then the tax accountants, the lawyer's offices.

Well, and after that I wasn't able to pay my folks anymore.

And now I'm really close to the oath... - What?

The Oath of disclosure.

You don't mean our house...

We didn't have any collateral... - That's not true!

...and Philipp had no money... - Is it gone?

..and when we went bankrupt, it all went by my name. - IS IT GONE?

Yes, it completely debits.

And if I don't pay the first mortgage within three months, it's gone.

Then it goes under the hammer.

How much? - Much.

HOW much?

More than 60000.

How much exactly? - 80000.

80000?

I need you, please stay here. - You've had all your chances.

And you've screwed them all up.

I have always supported you. You've had plenty of time.

You could have contemplated, or studied, I worked for it.

And now you want more money. I can't help you anymore.

Philipp will come soon and pay the debts. - And then you invest in oil fields?

He hasn't written you for half a year.

You've searched through my stuff. - "The vile mammon. Soon I will..."

"...take you in my arms again."

And you trusted someone like him?

You should read your own letters.

It's always just "me, myself and I" and your successful life as a manager.

But not a word for me. - But I always put a cheque in it.

I don't need your fucking money!

I would have needed you!

Another coffee, please.

Room 44, I'd like to have a Club Sandwich, please.

No, basic. Yes, without cheese. And a pack of cigarettes.

Shit.

But you've made it. You've created the caravan.

But the price... I'd like to be weak some time, too.

Let myself fall. Not for ever. Just for a moment, a day, a night.

A call for you.

The line's dead.

I know, I... wanted to get you out of there. - Mind your own business!

Cut the crap now.

Do you need money?

You can live with me for now.

No. Thanks.

Where do you want to go?

I'll go home.

To my sister.

I didn't think you might come back.

You tried to look for a job?

There are 400 applicants for one job. - You've got the wrong attitude.

What about your job in the mall? - That's not work, it's dirt.

And the man in the oil fields? - He won't come back.

I'll help you find work.

And after that? Will you go away again? - No. I'll stay for ever.

And, you know, now we're done with all the lying.

I'm not a hotel manager anymore. Not in a long time.

They fired me. I have no job, no money...

...this here is everything I've still got left.

Well, what now?

Now I'm going to unpack, and then we'll take back the house.

Since when are we not allowed to smoke on the tram anymore?

Do you plan to attend all of my interviews? - Yes.

Because you think I might go to the park to read,...

...and in the evening I'd say that unfortunately it didn't work?

Pretty much.

You just believe that I'm lazy and dishonest. - No, I don't believe that.

I just believe that you've got the wrong attitude.

How many academics do you think are there in search for a job right now?

You must believe me. Among them are quite a few that are ruthless and ambitious...

...did their A levels just perfectly. - They're not interesting.

You're clever, you've got credentials. And you'll find a job.

You'll redeem the mortgage and save our house.

So you're able to withstand stress, independent...

This can evolve into a full-scale traveller's job.

I'll just gather that as approval.

Any salary expectations?

I thought of 8000. - Yesterday? Last Year?

I don't understand.

You're using the past tense form for expressing your salary expectations.

- Fine. I THINK of 8000. Fixed sum.

Why should I pay you that much?

You shouldn't have mentioned the "fixed sum".

Well, you really shouldn't have said "fixed sum." - He was asking me about it.

Those who are good and who know it, will go for interests.

They'll reject your fixed sum.

It's a question of honor.

Your next appointment.

Hello! Franziska Simon.

Please tell me now why we're supposed to hire YOU of all people.

Excuse me?

As a communication operative, do you plan to...

...treat something like this exactly the same way?

I don't understand.

You're being in this room since exactly one minute and 45 seconds.

Within this period you haven't given any answers.

On the contrary, you're asking yourself.

And now already two minutes have passed and we haven't made any progress.

Merely I am annoyed. There's quite a lot of work waiting for me outside...

...and here on the inside time is wasted. So? - So what?

No answer again. Three minutes.

Three minutes, 15 seconds. - I have outstanding credentials.

Summa cum laude in American and Romance studies at the university of Cologne...

...and a doctorate with Professor...

What's even the point of your insults and your video recordings?

So you can get really mad. You got that little tantrum?

Wonderful.

Have you eaten something bad?

He could have looked between my legs. - And what have you done?

I held the folder in front of it. - Why didn't you cross your legs?

That bastard asked the same question. - What did he say then?

That I only hide behind my degree and if i had...

...interest in working with someone who's showcasing themselves like i do.

Just the usual.

Come with me.

I'll give it to you. - Really?

You have a bit much there, hm?

Your hair. - What's about my hair?

Definitely more makeup.

Sit on this chair.

Cross your legs.

A little bit more nonchalantly.

Don't look at him. For all i care potter at your portfolio.

You must be sure that he's looking at you.

So just give him a little time for that.

And then you look him right in his face, and smile.

Come on, smile!

Petra, I'm not looking for a man, but for a job. - But it's men who employ you.

And they can only think of one thing? - Yes.

You're beautiful and you'll get the job.

We'll be celebrating tonight. What do you want to drink?

Well, something that suits me. A bottle of Dom Perignon 76.

Hello. - Hello.

Franziska Simon. - Please.

I've seen you in his car.

Want one? - The "cigarette afterwards?"

Wives have to do that every day. For you it will have been the only time.

You will have forgotten it when the first pay check arrives.

Believe me.

I didn't get the job.

I DIDN'T GET THE JOB.

I am surprised.

We people abroad still think of the German businessman...

...as a blend of Ludwig Ehrhard and Berti Vogts.

But that a new generation has grown?

One that knows how to dress?

How to read a wine list? One that's polite and charming?

Congratulations.

I wouldn't have thought this is possible. - How long haven't you been in Germany?

Let me think about it...

The hotel on the Cape Verde Islands... that was about...

...in the summer of '83. A really tough job.

Fifteen years.

Unbelievable.

Tell me, the offices... How do they look like nowadays?

Gum trees? Neon lights?

Filter coffee that sits smelling on hotplates? - No, no.

We have energy-saving bulbs, cream-coloured velvet carpets,

An espresso machine by Gaggia. And NO dried flowers on the wall.

I have a small, indiscreet request. - Go ahead.

I'd really like to see your office.

Ah, forget it.

I'll have to leave tomorrow. With the first plane.

It'll be better if i have a decent lie-in at the hotel anyway.

What a crazy idea.

My office is just five minutes from here.

Excuse me, you don't do any dirty stuff, right?

No, no, we need that for analysis. See for yourself.

This one here, she's really tried to bring it on.

She must really have practised for it.

Look at how insecure she is...

...looking down, seeing if her skirt hasn't slipped too high.

That was a stupid cow. Overspoilt.

These women, with such a vent in her dress, aren't made for conferences.

They're made for "afterwards."

Oh. Excuse me, please.

Never mind!

I won't go applying anymore.

I can't take it. Do you understand?

I know.

That is the pig.

Bastard.

You're not a hotel manager.

No.

Never been?

And what do you tell the men?

Lies.

You're good at that. - It runs in the family.

So tell me what you tell them. That you have an ill little sister?

Who has cancer, or an artifical kidney or what? That's what you all say, hm?

Who, YOU?

Your pussy has funded me to study and become successful, hm?

And then... Then you come back to sit in the made nest.

No wonder this heads south. It's just lies and filth.

I'm not a whore. - That's what they all say.

I don't let them fuck me. And I don't return with empty hands.

Screw you.

Bye.

Don't forget your handbag. - Listen...

I'll take back the house that you lost.

My car's over there.

Help! HELP!

Enough.

Shit.

Come.

Come, come.

With this face I won't even get a parking spot.

That wasn't the first time, was it?

Foreign territory. Happens.

I didn't pay attention.

Never mind.

Come, I'll put you to bed.

You should know this is my first free evening.

Since two years. - You must be very busy.

I have an ill, bedridden sister. - Well, you don't have much of a choice.

And the surgeries have exhausted all my savings.

Must be a vicious illness. Are we having something else to drink?

Why not? - Maybe a bottle of Don Perignon?

Dom.

Excuse me? - Dom.

It's not Don. You probably think of Don Camillo, but it stems from "dom".

"House", "grange."

Say, you're not one of those educated ones, are you?

Oh. No.

You've been sitting at your poor sister's sickbed for two years.

And on your first free evening, we want to have a little fun.

So, for my sake: Dom.

And what type of guy was it? - A management consultant.

That's a lie.

Consulting manager, brain surgeon, investment adviser, nothing but lies.

And where did you meet him? - At a bar.

Why did you let him take you home?

I tried to talk about money. - I don't get it.

I've asked him about money for a cab. - At the bar?

No, later.

You've slept with him.

Why?

Why not? You've been doing it yourself.

I'm not a whore.

And you don't look at them? - No, I am looked at.

You can tell from their look.

I give them a little time.

And then you take a cigarette. And damn, you've got no lighter...

...that's the chance you're giving them.

And they're already with you.

And then? - Then I tell them a story.

"Tomorrow I'll be gone. Another con- tinent, another rundown hotel facility."

"I am lonelier than a pensioner on Mallorca."

That's a lovely story.

Well, it contains everything they need.

They don't need a femme fatale, a temptress. Nobody that's lying on top.

They want to help you. They want to show you what endearment is.

And the best thing is that tomorrow you will have to be gone.

Not only 200 kilometres, but 5000.

No problems, no unnecessary debates.

An adventure, just like from their little fantasies. - And then?

Then I mess them up.

With this? - I used to mix drugs in their drinks...

...but this way it's faster.

We don't have much time.

...the telephone that only rings for an alarm call.

I am lonelier than a pensioner on Mallorca.

I'm much lonelier than you. Much lonelier.

I... don't exist.

I talk like a businessman, wear the clothes of a businessman,...

...sit week after week on the IC Rheingold to Basel, between businessmen.

They give me a nod, like a workmate.

But... everything is fake. Everything's bogus.

That's why we meet each other in bars.

Because of the loneliness. - You're a smart woman.

I transport black money to Switzerland. Week after week, since 30 years.

I'm trusted, I'm an institution.

A lonely institution.

My car is right over there. - Right, at the women's parking area.

I'm a little frightened.

Wait.

I mean, I'm old, tired, jaded.

And you... are beautiful, clever, sensitive.

What do you want from me?

...90, 100.

Exactly 100,000.

And tomorrow we go straight to the bank and pay off the mortgage.

And then we'll go to a bar. Just the two of us.

I've been thinking. The thing about the simultaneous translations. It's not bad.

You with your language skills, and I throw in some logistics.

Shit.

I lied to you. - That's over now.

No, it isn't over. It's not 80,000.

I've asked you three times. - I know, but...

...we've been lying so many times that I thought it isn't essential.

How much? - Much.

HOW MUCH? - 200.

Gosh...

Don't do that.

I'm not here on my own.

You don't look well. - I thought you were already on Bora-Bora.

If she's just got the half of what she's telling me, then I may well be there soon.

Will you sleep with her tonight? - How's your ill sister?

Take me with you.

I've been working on that woman for two months. - To Bora-Bora.

You laughed at me in Agadir. - I've got 100,000 Mark.

The house that I grew up in, and to which I wanted to return...

...had a terrace and a rocking chair. - And why aren't you there?

It's gone.

Will you really come with me?

Tomorrow night, this place. I'll be waiting for you.

Petra, we won't lie again.

We can take the house back, as a pair. And we also have a little time left...

...and I'll give the 100,000 to the bank...

The windows in the back are all grilled... So you've really showed up...

You've got the money in there? - Yes.

I didn't pay attention and walked right into a trap. I'm sorry.

Bora-Bora.

I was only interested in your money anyway.

Petra, we won't lie again.

We can take the house back, as a pair. And we also have a little time left...

...and I'll give the 100,000 to the bank and maybe they'll remit the rest.

Petra? I am at the bar where you met the courier.

It's exactly like you told me. Exactly.

He's looking at me, continuously.

He's wearing brogues and they scrunch.

He can't go on any longer, he's got a suitcase with him.

Maybe I'm lucky and he's a courier, too.

He's shy and he's got a dash in his face.

Damn.

Petra? I think he's ready now.

I'll go to the bar now and take a cigarette from my handbag...

...and desperately look for a lighter.

... but they don't see that. How I tear myself apart.

How I slave.

You know, I... feel lonelier than a pensioner on Mallorca.

I understand.

I believe you.

Look.. even I have been tormented by life.

She left me.

Too much work. There was no space for "a home."

I can relate to her. I really miss her.

But work has to be done.

My car's right over there.

Could you please drive faster?

Please stop.

Franziska?

Franziska!

The taser was empty.

We should test it beforehand. - We should.

We just need a second one and then we'll make it.

We will make it.

I'm so sorry...

Subtitles and translation by: adornoir (for KG)

Hope you enjoyed it!