Original subtitles

East Berlin, East Germany

Excuse me...

Do you have a light?

The HVA just made a deal.

Submarine parts are being smuggled to the SADF in a cruise ship.

Around the UN sanctions.

They call it "Operation Love Boat."

Lenora is deeply involved.

I have proof.

Will you be able to bring her in tomorrow?

You do want her alive, don't you?

I'm joking.

Consider it done.

Meet me at Tucholskystrasse tomorrow at 10.00 p.m.

Right next to the US Embassy.

I'll arrange passage into the West for the three of you.

The boy is also coming,

isn't he?

Yes.

Tell Brigitte Winkelmann everything will go as planned.

U.S. Mission to East Germany, East Berlin

- What do you think? -Exciting stuff.

Right? Everyone loves Rocky Horror!

We dress up, get the audience involved, show what freedom feels like.

-I... I don't know. -Come on.

You would be a great Brad.

And I'll be Janet.

It'll be fun.

-Why not West Side Story? -Rocky Horror gets everyone involved.

There's a lot of audience participation.

Anything for God and country.

East German Foreign Intelligence Service HQ, East Berlin, East Germany

Comrades, I have bad news.

Operation Love Boat

has been sunk.

"These pictures will be sent to the West German press immediately

if you don't turn the ship around."

The boat is currently in international waters

off the coast of the Netherlands.

The passengers have no idea about any of this shit.

We have no choice but to bring the boat back.

No.

We still owe 30 million DM for the bloody ship.

If the sub parts don't reach South Africa, we don't get paid.

Money isn't the only thing at stake here.

Oh, yes? What else is?

-Barbara. -This isn't a popularity contest.

Since when did we care what the West Germans think about us?

What do we have to lose?

Our good reputation?

The lying western press will soon lose interest in this.

-But our creditors won't. -I think you're right.

We shouldn't let ourselves be steered off course.

A-ha?

And what do you think the legal repercussions will be if this comes out?

We're a member of the UN

and this deal

is a clear violation of the UN embargo.

The legal repercussions are irrelevant at the moment.

It'll take five years before this comes to court.

And who knows if we'll still exist in five years?

We're in the greatest economic crisis in the history of East Germany.

We deliver the goods,

we get the money.

Then we pay off the next installment of our international debts.

-It's still my call. -I have to tell you once again.

We stand to lose 30 million DM if we turn that ship around.

I'll make a decision by the end of today.

In the meantime, find out who wrote the letter.

West Berlin, West Germany

Shouldn't we give the photos to Spiegel Magazine?

Not yet.

We can still do that if our threat isn't enough.

But it would be a huge chance.

Professor Tischbier,

what will you do to get my girls out of there?

The Federal Ministry has people on the ground.

They will find your family.

When?

Tina.

These things take time.

It's already taken too long!

When I think about my husband in jail,

or about Marianne...

Every moment my girls are alone out there, without us,

it feels like my heart is being ripped out.

Please.

You have no idea how brutal they can be.

Café Wedekind, West Berlin, West Germany

WE KNOW WHAT YOU ARE INVOLVED IN

Let's leave for Austria tonight. I booked flights to Vienna.

I'm not going anywhere tonight.

What do you mean?

I just need more time.

Alone.

We've been apart all spring.

I was by myself in Cape Town for two months.

I had to help my mother.

But I need you now.

This isn't about you.

It's about me.

We should have had children.

What?

If we'd had children...

It's over, Frank.

I don't love you anymore.

Kleinmachnow Nursery, East Germany

Hey!

You're so heavy.

Ha, I'm going to look for snails!

On the wall, on the lookout Sits a little bug

There.

Look, Mama.

Aren't you a real snail expert, darling!

So sticky.

Come on, let's go.

I bet you're hungry.

On the wall, on the lookout Sits a little bug

On the wall, on the lookout Sits a...

WHERE ARE TINA'S CHILDREN? THEY DID NOT ARRIVE!

Hi, Mama.

Hey.

You're just in time, lunch is almost ready.

Ah, I'm really hungry.

Say...

have you ever taken Max into the city?

He's still a little young for museums.

But he likes to ride the S-Bahn. And trains.

-He does? -Oh yes. He loves trains.

Just like you used to.

Why?

I've just been thinking about things we can do together.

Did you make plans with Annett?

To be honest, she made it pretty clear that she wants to keep Max away from me.

She said it like that?

Well, between the lines, yes.

Well.

You have to give her time to get used to the idea of you.

She's been raising that boy alone from the start.

You'll have to be a little patient.

Yes, maybe.

At the orphanage I worked at in Angola...

there was a boy.

He was smaller than the others.

We were close and I took care of him.

But when I got the chance to come home,

I just left him.

I keep thinking about him.

Now he's down there and I'm here.

Hm, and Annett won't even let me see Max.

I'm beginning to wonder if I made a terrible mistake.

That's the worst thing.

Hm?

When parents are separated from their children.

Do you remember Tina, Thomas' sister?

Yes, of course.

Hm.

She was in jail.

Was bought out of East Germany by the West,

but they refused to release the children.

Oh.

And where are they now?

I don't know.

The captain read me the entire passenger manifest.

Rose's name wasn't on it.

She must be traveling incognito.

I described her to the captain.

He said...

there was no one like her on board.

You mean no one who...

-Yes. -Okay.

It's not like she's easy to overlook.

So where did she go?

Could Rose have gone to the western press, after swimming ashore?

I spoke with our surveillance team at Hotel Panorama.

The night before the boat set sail,

the hotel switchboard put through a call to West Berlin.

Could we trace the call?

Yes.

It came from Fuchs' hotel room.

And... was it recorded?

Unfortunately, no.

It was a secure line.

-You asked to see me, Comrade Fuchs? -Sit down.

I'd rather stand.

As you wish.

A series of unfortunate events has come to my attention, Comrade Rauch.

At first glance seemingly disconnected.

But the signs keep pointing to you.

To me?

Whether it was you or Rose

who made the phone call to West Berlin from my hotel room in Rostock

is completely irrelevant.

Phone call? We didn't make a...

Someone made a call!

And I know it wasn't me!

And this threat

to publish our deals in the western press...

You two,

as well as myself and Comrade Dietrich,

were the only ones in Rostock who knew about the deal.

Your accusation is preposterous.

I'm the one who set the deal up in the first place.

Why would I of all people...

I have a sneaking suspicion

that you're not coming to terms

with the current state of affairs, Comrade.

And I suspect that your loyalty to the ANC,

or perhaps to Rose,

is stronger than your loyalty to us!

Comrade Fuchs, do you know what I suspect?

I suspect that you

and our state have gone off course.

On that front,

I ordered the ship back to Rostock.

What?

We don't want the weapons getting confiscated.

Neither do our distinguished workers.

By the way,

Rose Seithathi has disappeared.

Rose isn't on the ship anymore?

Comrade Rauch...

from here on, you will be quiet.

I'm removing you from field service effective immediately.

And I'm withdrawing your special travel permit.

Long time no see.

Yes.

You look good.

Good for a dead guy, is that what you mean?

I only learned two weeks ago that you survived.

Hm.

And I couldn't really believe it.

Until now.

I was so sure you were dead.

Yes. I noticed.

I saw you run away in Angola.

Where's Ingrid?

Asleep.

She's sleeping, Lenora.

Sorry.

Do you know who saved me?

Gary Banks, of all people.

Gary Banks is really dead.

Shot.

And how do you know that?

I saw it. At the Rostock docks.

Maybe it was Rose.

Fuchs says Rose isn't on the cruise ship.

I have no idea where she might be.

And I can't look for her.

Anything might have happened.

The South African government has mercenaries everywhere

to hunt down ANC operatives.

Sorry.

I'm a little drunk.

And now Fuchs is ordering the ship back

and blaming me for the whole fiasco.

What fiasco?

Someone found out that East Germany is arranging weapons deals

between West Germany and South Africa.

They're threatening to go to the press, and Fuchs thinks that

I made a phone call and informed someone.

Maybe it was you.

The phone call.

Fuchs took away my travel permit.

And I already have a return ticket to Cape Town.

Why...

would I rat out my own deal?

Why?

I had something completely different in mind.

Aha. Namely?

The cruise ship's cargo, the submarine parts for the SADF,

were to be intercepted by the ANC in Angola.

Or that was my plan.

What? You wanted to sabotage the deal?

You?

I never would have thought...

Well, that doesn't help me now, either.

Now I'm stuck here.

In this doomed country.

What if I could get you over the border?

What would you do for that?

Anything.

Kleinmachnow, East Germany

And now?

Now you have to get your hands dirty one last time.

Max?

Max?

Hey, Max.

Good morning.

Don't worry.

I'm your dad.

I'd suspected Martin is only here because of Max.

But that he wanted to kidnap him...

With your help?

Well, he is his father, after all.

This also has great advantages for you.

You can focus on your career.

No more juggling work and family.

Just work, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The formula for success.

Believe me, I know what I'm talking about.

And Martin is going to be a fantastic father.

What's going on?

-Huh? -Take him. He's crying non-stop.

Oh, Maxi. Aww. Does Annett know?

Well, I...

Oh, what's wrong?

What's wrong?

Come, let's set up the train set.

You're going to kidnap the child now?

That was my plan.

You're not serious.

I am.

Mama, this isn't my country anymore. I don't want Max growing up here.

My dear friend,

you didn't grow up in a country.

You grew up in my house.

The child's mother is here.

Yeah. Annett.

You told me that Annett is never there.

-Annett is... -...much more reasonable than you,

as far as Max is concerned.

Maxi, I'll be right there.

I want Max to be free, Mama.

What does free mean?

I'm getting out of the business.

-No one gets out. -You'll see.

Can you take care of Max today, please?

Where are you going?

Good morning, Berlin! Thank you for coming!

First of all, let me remind you all that AIDS is a disease,

not a moral affliction.

Oh, Comrade Dietrich.

Coffee?

-Gladly. -It's the good stuff.

MAN : AIDS doesn't differentiate between good and bad people.

AIDS treats us all the same.

Regardless of race...

Thank God we don't have gay men in this country.

Last quarter, we made almost as much from selling donated blood

as we did from apples and pears combined.

Imagine if we had to screen it all for AIDS.

To what do I owe the honor of your visit?

I'm looking for Annett Schneider.

She's not in yet?

-Did she call in sick? -All I know

is she's in an inappropriate relationship with our client at Sprembex.

Oh, you mean Herr Amend?

-Who else? -And by inappropriate, you mean...

You just have to give young people opportunities.

And to grow with their challenges.

I knew from the very beginning that Annett Schneider had high potential.

-Comrade Fuchs has a nose for talent. -Exactly.

And the Sprembex deal can now continue.

-Excellent. -Hm.

MAN : But to distract from these facts,

the government of East Germany

has been perpetuating a rumor

that AIDS was developed by the US military in a laboratory

as a weapon.

They call it:

Operation Infection.

Operation Infection.

That's the KGB.

He wants to blame us?

But over there our East German friends are also suffering from AIDS.

And I have proof.

-Already? -Change of plans.

Where is he?

Stay calm, Annett.

Max is fine, he's with his grandma.

Ah.

Ingrid is involved, is she?

Sit down, Annett.

We have to talk.

Hm?

Listen, Annett, I want to be honest.

I have something planned and need your help.

Why should I help you?

If you ever want to see Max again, you'll do exactly as I say.

You wouldn't do that.

Then you don't know me very well.

Where are Tina Fischer's daughters?

MAN : To find a cure,

we have to work together.

And to work together,

we have to throw off the shackles of prejudice...

Whatever that means.

This disease has been taboo for far too long.

But we have to face the truth.

Today I want to say that I...

That I'm a fucking Stasi agent.

That I'm HIV positive.

Tischbier is what?

I was afraid he was going to out us as well.

As HVA, Hartmann. As HVA.

And I will spend my remaining time on this planet

fighting for a cure.

Well.

Don't forget we have that event at the US Embassy tonight.

7 p.m. sharp.

The Horry Rocky Show.

It might be funny.

Yeah.

Call Nina, she should take care of Winkelmann.

Okay.

Orphanage, East Germany

It's so generous of the two of you

to take in older children.

So many young parents are only interested in babies.

Why don't you tell me a bit about yourselves?

Would you like to start, darling?

Yes.

We are still very young.

But we've been together for a long time, since high school.

And we always wanted to have kids.

We actually had a son.

Max.

You can tell her, darling.

For a long time, I thought I'd never recover from the loss.

It seemed so unjust he had been taken from me so early.

The only way to bear it is to hold on to the little moments.

Moments of joy, however brief.

I'll never forget how it felt to hold Max in my arms.

But I realized

that there is so much one can't control in life. Right, darling?

Yes.

The day comes when you have to look forward and go on.

Yes, we have to go on.

Yes.

I can see that there's a lot of love in your home.

And no doubt good socialist values.

I'll bring you the sisters whose parents abandoned them for the West.

Thank you.

This is Christa and Michaela.

You can go out again.

Please wait outside.

I don't know.

I imagined them differently.

This is not a bowl of cherries!

Besides, what do you expect on such short notice?

Well, it has to fit, doesn't it?

I have a bad feeling about this.

Yes.

Do you have another pair of sisters?

Those two are very nice but...

We do have another pair of sisters, the Fischers.

-Yes. -But they're already taken.

They will be picked up early next week.

Maybe there's something we can do about that.

We have an important mission, and it's urgent.

Top-secret.

Yes.

We'd like to see the other sisters.

This is Steffi and Sandra.

You may leave again.

Please wait outside.

The Fischers are definitely HVA material.

Yes, and we'd like to take them with us now.

Yes.

Please go ahead. I need to fill out the paperwork.

Yes.

Thank you very much.

The girls will do a great service to East Germany.

And you personally contributed to it.

Good luck.

Thank you.

Have a nice day.

Your mother sent us.

-I don't believe you. -Come on.

I'm not getting in there.

Okay, listen.

We've known your mother since childhood.

Her name is Tina, her nickname is Knupsi,

and she has a birthmark between the shoulder blades. Right here.

Steffi?

Sandra!

-We have to hurry. -Come on.

Steffi!

Sandra!

U.S. Mission to East Germany, East Berlin

Welcome.

Welcome to the Embassy of the United States of America.

The program contains the German translation of the movie.

You'll need it...

Your toilet paper roll.

Welcome.

Take a seat in the front row. It's more fun.

- Enjoy. -You're looking good. Looking good?

Nothing like sharing the very best of American culture with our enemies.

Do not underestimate the value of cultural diplomacy!

Even if everyone in the audience works for the Stasi?

Especially if everyone in the audience works for the Stasi!

-Program? -Yes.

-Ready for your close up, Frau Netz? -Yes, but...

after the show I need your help for something important.

Okay.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

BND Field Office, West Berlin, West Germany

Gianni,

another Martini with a twist.

And one for the lady, too.

May I?

The seat is free.

I left my wife this morning.

Lucky me.

In truth, I tried to run,

but there are no flights to Cape Town until tomorrow.

Then at least we have tonight.

Herr Rauch.

Come here, please.

What are their names?

Steffi, Sandra, Lenora.

That's Katie and I'm Hilde.

Hi, don't worry.

We were at a play.

We dressed up.

Yes, and now Katie will put some fancy makeup on you, okay?

Our colleague from the US Embassy will drive you across.

They don't check diplomatic vehicles.

We have two cars.

Good.

Where's the boy?

He's staying here.

Thank you.

Take care.

Okay. Who's ready for a real adventure?

I'll turn the music way up,

and we'll all dance.

And when we go across the border,

you just smile.

All right?

We can do it, hm?

Yeah!

Good luck, you two!

Take care.

Don't worry, okay?

Take care.

-Thank you very much. -Bye.

Now we have to see

where your mother is.

There's Mama!

Mama!

Mama!

I've missed you so much.

Uncle Thomas!

Where's Dad?

Brigitte Winkelmann!

What are you doing here?

Having you arrested.

Where's Martin?

Where is Martin?

Martin isn't coming.

I can get in by myself.

I can get in by myself!

What's going on here?

The cruise ship,

a loss of 30 million DM.

The Würfel & Struth torpedoes,

a loss of 20 million DM.

The sabotaged Sprembex trial,

a loss of 50 thousand DM.

Projected revenue from fruit and vegetable sales,

lost due to contamination from Chernobyl, a loss of half a billion DM.

-Stop it. -These are only the tip of the iceberg.

We'll have new ideas.

I don't want to hear any new ideas!

The bedrock of our export revenue is blood sales,

transfusion bulk and plasma.

Hospitals and pharmaceutical companies in the West

can't get enough of it.

And the best part?

It costs us almost nothing to produce.

Our lazy citizens produce it for free.

We just pump, bag and ship!

Easy money.

But now some sick little faggot in the West

goes on TV

and announced that the AIDS virus

is spreading like wildfire over here.

One person cannot bring down an entire country.

If the country is only propped up on rickety stilts?

Yes, he can.

This country still stands on a strong foundation of good values.

Good values don't pay the rent.

Money pays the rent.

Good values are just...

window dressing.

Here.

Our celebrations could have been so wonderful.

The 25th anniversary of the Wall?

Yes.

Fireworks, blue skies, raspberry bushes.

A celebration of everything we've achieved here.

Now it will just be a parade.

Better a parade than...

I'll still call Mielke about the raspberries.

Yes?

Who's there?

Hey!

How'd you like the show?

It's the middle of the night.

It's actually early in the morning.

I was thinking you might have a key to my place.

I... Why?

Because I lost mine in Kreuzberg.

And I don't want to wake up my wife Maria because

if she finds out I was dancing with Katie she's gonna kill me.

I mean, why do you think I have a key to your apartment?

I'll tell you what.

I'm gonna wait right here,

and you will call whoever you have to call.

I owe you one.

Hello?

SAFE IN CAPE TOWN.

I'M WAITING FOR YOU, MY LOVE.

MAN : Mr. Posimski, we've heard you are working on a new book.

I think your fans would love to know what it's about.

Well. Inspiration struck me like a lightning bolt.

It's a story about a reluctant spy from East Germany.

He wants to get out of the spy game, go home,

and live the simple life,

but his reputation precedes him.

Everywhere he goes, people either want his help

or want to kill him.

A Candide of the 20th century.

Sounds interesting.

And what is it called?

I think I'll call it:

The Legend of Kolibri.

Subtitles: Matthew Way