Original subtitles

[gentle music]

[man's amorous sighs]

[gentle music]

[Widower] Praise be. [Coachman] Forever.

[gentle music]

Can't you sleep?

[gentle music]

We ran out of oil.

[Anka] I'll go ask the mine while they're still working.

[gentle music]

You're Eva's bastard, aren't you?

Tell Mom there will be announcements.

[gentle music]

We ran out of oil.

[gentle music]

As I promised her.

[gentle music]

I only need you, Mom.

[gentle music]

[music fades]

[upbeat music and singing]

What are you doing here?

Don't you like your new father?

Ugh!

[Woman] Here she is, all puffed up.

[upbeat music and singing]

[footsteps]

[Widower] Move aside.

[Mother] She's still not asleep, wait.

Let her watch.

But quietly, okay?

[Widower] Show yourself to me.

[door slamming]

There will be no slamming doors in my house.

[Mother] Don't slam them.

"To respected German households in Prague,

I will accept a diligent girl

skilled in manual work,

who understands German."

Train ticket

will be sent ahead.

[door slamming]

[gentle music]

[incomprehensible frustration from the widower]

[gentle music]

Will I see you again?

Sleep.

[gentle music]

[music fades]

[romantic music]

[Mother] Pray.

Listen there, even when I'm far away from you.

[Anka] I will, Mama.

[Mother] The Emperor sees everything, whether you're a good girl.

[romantic music]

[Líza] New maid?

[Jancsi] Yes.

[romantic music]

Well, come on!

[romantic music]

[music fades]

[In Hungarian] Where are you from?

[In Hungarian] Do you speak Hungarian?

Just say: "Yes, gnä' Frau. Yes, gnä' Herr."

Move.

[piano playing, singing]

Wipe your shoes.

[Lady] Resi, it's dragging on.

[Gentleman] I said, don't argue.

[Gentleman] Help me get up, Boro.

[Gentleman singing with piano]

[piano fades, lady sings]

[Líza in German] New maid, gracious lady.

[In German] Is she mute? Well?

[In Czech] You must listen.

You'll be thrown out for stealing. Do you understand me?

Yes, gracious lady.

[In German] Well, she can speak. Maybe she can even sing.

[In Czech] Can you sing?

[In German] Well then.

Well?

[singing] ♪ They built the lower gate for five years. ♪

♪ In front of it, young men were fighting. ♪

♪ Those were the days to live. To be drunk on vodka and caviar. ♪

♪ From the tavern to the girl and from the girl to the mine. ♪

[In German] Bravo, like a nightingale.

[In German] Go.

[Lady in German] Good, isn't it?

[Lady] Resi, stop it. You'll get fat.

And I'll have to support you.

[gentle music]

[Líza] You'll be here with me.

Jancsi brought your bed upstairs and Bora aired out your quilt.

Are you afraid of mice?

No.

[gentle music]

Are you bleeding now?

No one can avoid it.

Except when she's pregnant. But I don't know if that's a relief.

How many of you were at home?

At first, it was just me and my mother.

Then she got married so that she wouldn't be accused of whoring in Štiavnica.

The widower brought his three children. And now my mother is expecting theirs.

You're just like a little mother, aren't you?

[gentle music]

[Líza] Remember what you dream.

[Líza] What you dream in a new place will come true.

[gentle music]

[music fades]

[whistling a melody]

[Kristýna] Štefan, come eat!

Show yourself to me.

Be kind. No one needs a sad servant.

The master doesn't come downstairs. Watch where you step.

[Kristýna] I turn around, and that cat is on the table. You should have drowned it.

[Líza] This is our Kristýna, the cook. She cooks.

[Kristýna] The cook usually cooks.

Did your mother get rid of you, you bastard?

Jancsi the coachman and Herr Ištván. They work in the garden and on the house.

- Štefan, screw Ištván. - Kiss my ass.

It doesn't hurt anymore, he probably numbed it.

[Štefan] Kristýna, you're the best cook. I swear, in all of Prague.

Don't choke.

Come to my room sometime. We'll have some fun, won't we?

[Agáta] They're awake now. Shall we go?

[maids] Kind protector Jesus, be with the Father, honor highest.

And the spirit that comforts us, through all ages, every time.

- Amen. - Amen.

[in German] Let's go.

Come.

Come on!

[Líza] Laundry. What's torn goes to the side.

Don't mix the pillows of the lady and the lord, it would be a sin.

She has them scented and embroidered with a monogram.

[upbeat music]

We wash and make soap here.

Soap must be used sparingly, not wasted.

So that it doesn't smell of lye every Friday. Go.

[Jancsi in Hungarian] Put some lavender in it, or the moths will eat it.

- [Štefan] What's happening? - [Jancsi] Nothing.

The lady notices every speck. You have to polish it.

[Líza] Serve quietly, be as quiet as a mouse.

That's Bora, she's full of herself.

She wanted to be a cook, but Kristýna cooks better.

[upbeat music]

Air it out every time.

Wide open.

It's stinking in here after the night.

Pissed on. You have to use vinegar and oil.

What are you doing?

You have to hold the chamber pot like a vase with flowers.

They shouldn't think that their shit smells like ours.

[Madam] Líza? Líza.

- Are we washing today? - Only on Friday.

- Come on, let's wash today. - Yes, madam.

I'm always alone with everything.

So she doesn't mess it up.

"I'm alone with everything."

Madam wants a toilet inside, and the master says no, that shit belongs outside.

[upbeat music]

- Praised be the Lord Jesus Christ. - Forever.

[upbeat music]

(children's screams and laughter)

[upbeat music]

Anka?

What do you have there?

[Štefan's laughter]

Štefan is fooling around with you. With anyone who gives in.

[Anka] Even with Kristýna?

Silly girl. Kristýna never with anyone.

She's still honest. And probably forever. Who would want her? No breasts or butt.

She snores like a young one until nine. Causes trouble.

And when she doesn't snore, she rolls around and reads. Or maybe not even that.

She imagines a prince on a white horse, coming to get her.

How do you know all that, Líza?

- But you're just... - A maid?

[clatter]

Finally. Knock.

So go.

[Anka in German] Good morning.

[in German] Where is my brooch?

[Resi] I had it here.

[Resi] Did you steal it?

Admit it, or I'll call the police.

[Resi in Czech] Show me your hands.

[Resi in Czech] Take off the apron.

[Resi in Czech] Undress.

Ah! [laughter]

[in German] Here it is.

I forgot.

Why are you still standing here? Get out.

[door creaking]

[crying]

[Anka] Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.

And grant, O God, that my mother is healthy. And the master's family.

And the emperor. Amen.

[gentle music]

[Líza] You didn't even tell me what you dreamt on the first night.

[gentle music]

[incomprehensible conversation]

[gentle music]

[Líza] Anka!

[Franz] Líza, give me a pin,

I'll pin this butterfly to the wall.

Shh!

- Enjoy your meal. - [lady] Enjoy your meal.

Here you go.

[sir] Thank you.

Spoon in the right hand.

[lady] Elbows.

- How do you sit again? - How do I sit?

I'll bring a mirror so you can see yourself.

That's hard, you can't eat that.

Set the hard part aside.

[lady in Czech] Líza, bring the books.

[in German] It's not necessary. Am I sitting up straight now?

[lady] No, you're not.

[Líza] You two. Move it!

[lady] It's no use, I can say whatever I want.

- Does it taste good? - [boys] Yes.

[sir] Resi, imagine Austria-Hungary as our house.

[sir] Solid,

quality,

indestructible.

Hmm. And you as the emperor?

Well, and my sons, you, and mother as the most important ministries of the empire.

And books are schools. And paintings?

Paintings and jewelry are cultural heritage.

And cities are rooms, and the garden is the Alps. And the kitchen?

The kitchen is the supply of material reserves.

And the fence is the border.

You see, you understand.

[Man in German] Go already.

[Man in Czech] So when your mother commands something to you, it is like

when the emperor wants to adopt a new law.

At first glance, it limits us, but in...

[Man] Enough! It's a system.

[Man] A system by which we live.

[In German] Where is my pipe?

[Lisa] Here, sir.

I'll notice right away when they need something.

I'll do everything for them that I see in their eyes.

[Soft music]

[Lisa] Well, hello.

[Soft music]

[Lisa] That won't work, even if you peel your hands.

[Lisa] It's scorching hot.

Let Anka try lemon.

[Kristina] Lemons are expensive.

The water must be cold, otherwise it will congeal on you.

[Soft music]

[Crying can be heard]

[Kristina] Stop crying!

You're neither the first nor the last maid.

Being a servant is not the worst thing that could happen to you.

It's easy for you to say, Kristina.

No one pushes you up and down,

no one tells you that everything is shit,

that you're incapable and stupid.

Stupid?

[Kristina] Well, let me tell you something, alright?

The upper class has no secrets from the servants.

We know everything about them. You, me, Stefan, Lisa.

We know what they eat, what they drink, when they go to bed.

Who they sleep with.

We know who visits them.

We know when they bleed, when they're sick.

Who they write to. But they don't know anything about us.

Your secrets will remain your secrets.

So tell me, who is the real fool?

[Stefan] What are you doing up so early?

Can't sleep? Were you thinking about the boy?

Do you have a boy?

Nice, huh?

It's called a French garden.

The French came up with it. They like it this way.

Who did you leave at home?

My mother.

No boyfriend?

[Soft music]

There were twelve of us at home, like apostles.

My brother went to America and he didn't care about us.

And I said I was going to Prague, since we're one monarchy.

Even though the guys cursed him.

The emperor. They said he was an old man who overslept the times.

[Soft music]

Can you read?

[Soft music]

"Slovak native Milan Štefánik

studied astronomy at the Charles-Ferdinand University.

Currently an astronomer and scientist in Paris.

In the photo below, during an ascent to the Alpine mountain Mont Blanc,

the highest peak on the entire European continent."

[Soft music]

Why did he go there?

So high up?

He probably wanted to look around from up there.

I would look around too.

After you.

I have laundry on the stairs.

Are you made of sugar or what?

[Doorbell rings]

[In Czech] They're here.

- Burn it. - Yes.

[Líza] Anka, come. We need to wipe their shoes.

[Jancsi] Welcome.

- Good evening. - Good evening.

- What do you have there? - Mommy!

- Well, wipe it yourself then. - No.

[Gustav's father] Up the stairs?

- And how many steps are there? - [Jancsi in Hungarian] A thousand. This way.

[Gustav's mother] It's magnificent.

[Tense music]

[Woman] Son of a retired postal worker

and a mother of questionable reputation.

Is that what you consider a match for our only daughter?

Why? Why him?

Why not Johann with five thousand hectares of land?

Or Dolf with a house opposite the Hofburg?

Ow!

- [Franz] May I have some sugar? - [Líza] Don't touch it, you'll burn yourself.

[Woman in German] What a visit!

Finally.

Welcome!

- [Woman] You look younger and younger. - [Gustav's mother] Oh, not me, but you!

[Woman] Please, have a seat.

Enchanting personality.

[laughter]

[Man] This is my daughter, Resi.

[Man] Resi, play something for Gustav.

[Man] Don't be shy. [laughter]

[piano playing]

[Woman in Czech] Our Resi. But she practices every day.

[better piano playing]

[Man in Czech] Your son as well, apparently.

[piano playing]

[Gustav's mother] Such a lovely sight, don't you think?

Oh. Hm.

[romantic music]

[in German] You'll be like a princess.

[romantic music]

[Woman in German] Just a little more.

[in Czech] Anka, come here, you have stronger hands.

[Anka] Yes, ma'am.

There you go.

[romantic music]

[in German] Breathe out and hold your breath.

[Woman] I said, don't breathe!

[romantic music]

[Woman in German] So, show yourself.

Everyone will be looking at you.

What's wrong?

Thank Anka.

- [Resi] Thank you. - Very well.

[Minister] This is no longer sustainable.

Austria-Hungary is the largest state in Europe.

With 53 million inhabitants speaking countless languages.

[Man] But you're forgetting about Russia, sir.

[Minister] But Russia is not Europe.

What if Archduke as future Francis II

truly transforms the Austro-Hungarian monarchy

into the federative United States of Greater Austria?

[Man] I wouldn't speak of the emperor's departure

even in a theoretical sense.

[Minister] Ha! He's 84, sir.

D'Este truly intends to remove the state dualism.

[in German] Nonsense! Another one.

[Anka] What are you doing, Liza?

[piano playing and singing in German]

[Anka] Four, five, six,

seven, eight, nine, ten...

[Jancsi in Hungarian] How long do they want to yell, bastards?

They deserve to be silenced.

Did they steal something? Wouldn't surprise me.

[Štefan] Can I do this, Kristyna?

[Štefan] I'm hungry, cross-eyed.

And what about you, do you have too little work to do? What nonsense are you reading again?

Beautiful. A servant that the deputy sheriff fancies.

Nothing but fairy tales.

What do you know? No one has ever looked at you in life.

[Jancsi in Hungarian] Ah, the old spinster is jealous.

Now I don't know how it will end.

Badly, always badly, Liza. That's what I know.

Someday someone will write about me too.

You'll see. They'll write about me in the newspaper.

[in Hungarian] Bastards.

[Štefan] I won't go back there. I'm going to sleep.

[Jancsi] I have to wait. I still have to deliver them.

[incomprehensible voices from the kitchen]

[in Czech] Badly.

[waltz playing]

[music fades]

Do you want it?

[gentle music]

[Gustav] I asked your father if I could speak with you alone.

[gentle music]

[Anka] Where will you live after the wedding, Miss Resi?

Here. Father wishes for us to stay here.

There's plenty of room here.

Now that Gustav is here, they will finally stop ordering me around.

[gentle music]

And do you like Mr. Gustav, Miss Resi?

And you?

He resembles the master.

Hmm.

They say every woman chooses a husband who resembles her father.

Not you?

I don't have a father.

[gentle music]

[music fades]

What is it like?

Have you done it before?

With a man?

Come here.

[hums]

[Štefan] Greetings to the lady, Muro.

[Štefan hums]

Anka?

What will Gustav do with me tomorrow?

The same as any man.

But what will it be like?

[Štefan hums]

Could you find out?

[Resi] And then come and tell me, okay?

[hums]

[Štefan hums]

Štefan.

Well, do what needs to be done.

[Štefan's grunts]

[Štefan] More.

[grunts]

[Štefan] Ah!

[heavy breathing]

[clock ticking]

[creaking door]

It's bearable.

Really?

Once it's done, it's over.

Show me.

[gentle music]

[Štefan hums]

Good morning, Jancsi.

You must have dreamt of something very nice.

You dreamt of something, I didn't sleep much.

You rascal.

[romantic music]

[music fades]

[men singing in Hungarian]

[joins in singing]

[female laughter]

[Resi] Will I be able to breathe in this?

[in French] Can you shorten the dress a bit?

No, it looks nice like this.

[in Czech] Anko, put it down.

[Madam in French] Very well, madam.

[Madam] You're welcome.

Resi.

[Madam] Lovely.

[men singing]

[bell tolling]

[solemn music]

[Lady in German] The veil, boys.

[Gentleman] Thank you.

- You will call me father. - I can't, sir.

- Father! - Father.

Don't argue, be kind to him and always smile.

[Resi] You know who laughs without reason, mother?

[Lady] And don't talk back. Men don't want argumentative women.

[Resi] It's after the wedding, so it doesn't matter, right?

You'll find out when he beats you for the first time.

[Lady] We're here now.

[solemn music]

[Lady] Let's go then.

[Lady] Take care!

[Gentleman] Best of luck!

[Lady] Take care.

[solemn music]

[music fades]

[romantic music]

[Anka] Štefánik, that's the one who climbed that hill.

Now he went to the sea, like Miss Resi.

Kristýna, will Miss Resi come back?

Why wouldn't she come back?

Wait.

Nice.

- Is that what they wear there? - Here with us.

Just wait until d'Este becomes emperor, he'll drive all the Germans out of Prague.

Where to?

They'll go home.

Only we are at home here.

I thought that the master is at home here in Prague.

The master is German.

Even the mistress, Grossmutter, both boys are German.

And your Resi is German too.

Only we are at home here.

- The two of us? - [Kristýna] Me.

[Kristýna] You'll see, then there won't be a single German here.

Kristýna, how do you know such things?

And how is it that you don't know them?

[Christmas music]

[in German] Are we heating?

It's cold everywhere.

They must have forgotten to stoke it.

The Slovaks built the entire Budapest. You should have gone there.

- [lady] How many Christmas trees are there now? - [Jancsi in Hungarian] A thousand.

- [lady] How many? - [gentleman] Back!

Kristýna, like every Christmas.

Breaded meat with salad, pike, hare in cream sauce.

And for dessert, cornmeal mush with apples and raisins.

And drizzle it with cherry liqueur. The master likes it so much.

And what about the soup? The master won't have carp.

Maybe, for once, he'll survive without carp.

I won't eat carp.

But you will.

[gentleman] Excuse me?

[lady] What about the heating? Will someone stoke it?

[gentle music]

You're cheerful, Róza.

I like cheerful girls.

[Christmas music]

Líza. I like to laugh.

Sometimes I laugh all day.

[Líza] I'm ticklish.

[gentleman] And where else are you ticklish?

Pif paf!

[Christmas music]

[romantic sighs]

[Líza] The master will buy me a house. Small, but I don't mind.

He will come to me, nobody will know.

He will make sure I don't have to serve, just wait for him to come.

Will you come to me? We'll laugh.

[Líza] Move over.

Imagine someone.

The master.

Štefan.

[laughter]

Why are you doing this, Líza?

You're such...

Such what?

Such beautiful.

[Anka] Good day.

[boy] They're leaving!

[romantic music]

Darling, how have you been? Hello, mother. You haven't changed at all.

And how should I look?

- Miss Resi. - Mrs. Resi, Kristýna.

Madam, I'll prepare something for you.

If it weren't for the unfortunate plebiscite in '68,

Venice would still be ours, not Italian.

We need to talk.

When will you come again?

[tense music]

[Bora] Is it straight?

[tense music]

[music fades]

[Resi] No! No, Gustave.

Why?

I have it.

[in German] You're late.

- Excuse me, sir. - You're forgetting yourself.

- No, Father. - We can.

[woman] How come you're not pregnant?

Three months by the sea, and nothing?

Did you sleep together?

What do you think?

Resi, you're not a girl anymore.

You're a married woman now.

Once you're pregnant,

you'll have a break from marital duties

for a while.

Sometimes even for a year.

Tell Kristýna to prepare the women's potion.

For every day.

Take this to her. Pour it into the water for her

so that she can sit in it for at least half an hour, and the child will grow in her.

Is the Virgin Mary pregnant?

She will have a child if Gustav sleeps with her, right?

No woman has ever given birth after tea.

[in German] You lied to me.

[in Czech] It was different from what you said.

It was as I showed you.

[gentle music]

Did you miss me?

Every day.

Every day?

[gentle music]

What is it like now that you're a lady, Miss Resi?

Sometimes when it rained, I wanted to go out on the street.

To get wet, you know?

To stop feeling him.

I always had him on me.

Even when he was gone or went to the harbor.

I still felt him.

[gentle music]

It hardly rained here.

[gentle music]

Caress me again.

[gentle music]

[scream]

[Jancsi in Hungarian] Damn it.

[Štefan] Why are you crying, Anka?

[Štefan] You didn't know them. Neither the heir nor the gracious lady.

[Kristýna] I'm making "mozečky" in the Znojmo style, as my mom taught me.

[Štefan] They shot him in the neck, and the blood squirted a meter high.

And his wife in the belly, right here.

Štefan.

[Štefan] The car was covered in fucking blood.

So that's how d'Este ended, poor guy.

What was he doing there? He should have stayed home.

No one would have shot him there. Onion!

No one could get me to Serbia, even if they invited me.

Why would they invite you to Serbia, Kristýna?

The gentleman said it would be over in two or three months.

It will end soon, you'll see.

- Three months? - Hmm.

Stop talking nonsense. The gentleman knows shit. He won't put on a uniform.

The most handsome guy is a soldier in uniform.

What are you fussing about here?

[in German] We'll defeat them, Father.

This silly war can't last long.

[in Czech] And is this assassination a real reason,

or just an excuse for grown men to play soldiers?

[in German] It's not fitting for a married woman to concern herself with such matters.

[in Czech] And what about an unmarried woman?

[in Czech] Don't meddle in men's affairs, Resi.

Burn it, Roza.

Liza.

Sir.

Liza.

[Anka] Jancsi says that in six months, the war will be over.

[Anka] Štefan says it will definitely take a year.

[Anka] Because everyone is against us.

[Anka] Both the Russians and the French and...

Everyone.

[Resi] Father claims that Austria-Hungary is eternal,

that it will last a thousand years and everyone envies us.

The French have no king,

the English one is just for show, and Russia is a hundred years behind.

And supposedly, everyone envies us.

[romantic music]

That's not right.

But it's beautiful, isn't it?

[romantic music]

Come, I'll show you something.

[romantic music]

What's it like at your home, Anka?

What's life like there?

Nice.

One day we'll go there, right?

Together? Hm. Just the two of us.

Yes.

And we'll live there together.

[romantic music]

[Anka] I'll show you the town. And the calvary.

[Anka] We'll go swimming in the summer.

[Anka] And in the autumn, we'll pick plums and make preserves.

[Anka] We'll live our lives.

[romantic music]

I hope they'll call Gustav too.

[romantic music]

[music fades, sound of rain]

- What are you doing? - No one's watching.

They called me.

They'll call Mr. Gustav too.

Maybe you'll be together.

And if they kill me, will you be sorry, Anka?

- Why would they kill you? - They kill everyone.

Maybe every other person.

Maybe not you, but Mr. Gustav, yes.

Would you like that?

What would women do without men?

There has to be someone left.

You'd manage without us, though.

[romantic music]

[music fades]

[in German] I have good news for you.

[grandmother] My gallbladder acted up last night.

We're going to have a child.

Finally.

- Or a daughter. - [joyful laughter from the women]

[woman] You see, the herbs helped you. They help everyone.

[man] The most important thing is for the child to be healthy.

[grandmother] What? I can't hear anything.

She's pregnant, Mom.

[man] In the history of our family, we'll start a new chapter.

[woman] Your granddaughter. Resi is pregnant.

[grandmother] Oh.

We're going to have a child. Just the two of us.

It will be like ours.

Let it be a girl.

[laughter]

[joyful music]

[doorbell rings]

[joyful music]

Father!

They called me!

I'm going to the war.

Yes!

[both joyfully] War! War! War! War!

War! War!

[laughter]

[gentle music]

What if they kill Gustav there?

Then it will be fate.

I've never seen a woman dressed like a man in my life.

Well, maybe you have, you just didn't recognize it.

Only Gustav's shoes will probably be a little big for you.

Mine are fine.

[tense music]

[Resi] Oh, God.

[cawing]

[in German] Breathe.

Just breathe, Resi.

[cawing]

No.

[Kristýna] That's amniotic fluid, Miss Resi, come on.

- Mrs. Resi, Kristýna. - Ma'am. Come lie down, Miss.

[Kristýna] It's nothing.

[Kristýna] I'll take a look.

Morning. Tomorrow morning, you'll have a child, Miss.

[woman in German] Well, you see.

[cawing]

[Anka] ...Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses...

[Kristýna] Shh!

Oh my God, what kind of antichrist is coming out of her?

God's punishment. I wouldn't want that for anything.

And I would advise you, Anka, the same.

It's evening already, Kristýna.

Why hasn't the child come out of her yet?

Sometimes it takes time.

How much time?

Until the woman dies.

Sometimes the child.

And sometimes both.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

[sad music]

- [Kristýna] Ma'am. - What's happening?

Should I call the doctor?

Rather the priest.

[sad music]

Don't die, Resi.

[sad music]

What if you're already a widow?

[sad music]

Try once more.

[sad music]

Push again.

Once more.

[sad music]

[Resi heaving]

[sad music]

[Kristýna] Once more! Resi, now. Push!

[Kristýna] Slowly. Now take a breath. Now!

[Resi heaving]

[Kristýna] There you go. It's coming now, come on. Now.

[dramatic music]

[Resi screaming]

[newborn baby crying]

[dramatic music]

Mommy, boys! Resi has a son!

[woman] Mommy, she did it!

[music calming down]

[softly] Yes.

[in German] Well, too bad.

That can happen.

Well, okay.

I'll write to Gustav that next time it will be a son.

Mother,

can Anka be the foster mother?

[dark music, baby crying]

[dark music, baby crying]

[dark music, baby crying]

[cheering]

[baby crying]

[crying, Anka humming a song]

Shall I close the door so she doesn't disturb you?

She's crying non-stop.

[Anka] Babies cry.

But non-stop?

[crying]

[Anka] She's beautiful.

She hasn't smiled once.

Other babies smile.

[Anka] She has time.

You have time, miss. Really.

[Anka gently] Well.

Gustav will want a son.

He'll start pursuing me again.

I saw our Emperor Franz Joseph.

He's terribly old.

He must be at least a hundred.

He didn't see me.

He never saw me, whether I was good or not.

What if I never start loving her?

What if I don't begin to love her?

I love her.

[baby crying]

Anka,

can we arrange for Gustav to drop dead?

[distant crying of the baby]

What are you doing here?

What? Go back to your work. That damn baby is crying again.

That damn baby, it must be the devil's work! Damn this whole war!

Go back to your own business!

Kristyna, can someone be made to die?

That's black magic.

Do you want your soul to turn black?

Or to be caught? Or me for suggesting it to you?

So you don't end up like the old hag next door.

When she was still young,

she shaved off all the hair from her crotch, burned it,

mixed the ashes with water left to stand in a chamber pot under a full moon,

and drank it,

then mounted a broomstick, circled the room ten times

and screamed, "Drop dead, drop dead, drop dead!"

And within a month, he was an old dead man.

- Fine, then. - [Resi] Anka!

Just don't tell me about it.

- But she must have been naked. - [Resi] Anka, come here!

[baby crying]

[gagging]

Stop it, or it won't work.

[dark music]

[both] Drop dead, drop dead!

Drop dead!

Drop dead, drop dead!

[crying]

Drop dead, drop dead!

Drop dead, drop dead!

Drop dead, drop dead!

[dark music]

We've done it.

There's nothing in the shops. Everything is empty.

[Štefan] You're still the best cook, Kristyna. In all of Prague. I swear.

That's because you're eating shit on the front lines. You eat it without butter and sugar.

It doesn't lack anything.

Burn it, Kristyna.

I'm telling you, we're on the wrong side. In the wrong trench.

- And which trench is the right one? - The one opposite. Directly opposite.

Anka, look.

Read it.

[Anka] "Brothers Czechs, brothers Slovaks.

Germans and Austrians want to conquer the whole world and enslave the nations of Europe.

Let's stand up to them and fight for our freedom."

Štefánik. He scattered those leaflets as he flew.

The whole field is full of paper. We all hid some.

- Be quiet. - What are you afraid of, Kristyna?

[Líza] Always just war. Don't you know anything else?

There's a lot happening in the resistance. People from Prague, even some Slovaks.

Something needs to be done.

And aren't we already doing enough?

Leave it.

Štefan!

Wait!

Every soldier has something from their loved ones.

But we both know how it is, Anka.

[gentle music]

[Jancsi] Are you coming?

[Štefan] Goodbye, Jancsi.

[gentle music]

[Anka] What does your father, the gentleman, actually do?

[Resi] He supports us.

[Resi] Grossmutter, Mother, me, and you. The whole house.

[Anka] And what's written in those letters that Kristyna burns?

- [Resi] State secrets. - [Anka] The gentleman has secrets?

[Resi] We all have some. Father, the emperor. Even the two of us, right?

[Resi] Where did you hear that?

Some Štefánik.

They wrote about him in the newspapers.

He flies with an airplane and drops papers from it.

Just causing a mess. I wonder who will clean it up.

A woman can go crazy,

while a man just farts, and they write about him in the newspapers.

[in German] Sit down.

[Resi] Hm?

[woman] Resi!

[woman] Resi!

[in German] I have bad news.

[weeping in Czech] The heart of the monarchy has been severely wounded.

Today, His Imperial Majesty has quietly passed away.

[in German] Pray for your husband.

[footsteps receding]

Do you think it's me?

That I caused it?

[child crying]

Little Miss, I'll cook her porridge.

[crying]

[sad music]

Burn it.

[sad music]

[music fades]

[vomiting]

[Anka] Líza?

[Anka] Are you feeling sick?

Leave me alone.

You're in it.

Should I get rid of it right away?

Are you an angel lover, Kristýna?

Well, it should be how a woman wants it.

But God...

What about God? Has God ever given birth to anything?

- Líza. - So what?

Undo my corset and no one will notice anything.

Even my mother...

I'm a bastard too.

But she still loved me.

Loved?

[dark music]

Good morning, Jancsi.

[dark music]

He's arrived.

Cattle.

He's home.

If it were me,

if they did it to me,

if it were a man,

he would've put a bullet through his head. If he were a man.

There are things that should not be survived.

One must confront it.

To extend your hand to death and call out: "Come, strike! Strike!"

Directly, face to face, like a man!

Like a cripple? Good Lord.

Cripple?

If it were me,

I'd hang myself on the first tree.

Who says that it's necessary to survive at all costs?

[dark music]

[music intensifies]

[music fades]

Well, come to me.

We'll cut ourselves.

[in German] Can you cover it up?

[in German] Now I'll keep an eye on you with only one eye.

[man] Scars from battle are a man's ornament.

Head.

[screams] Head!

[girl crying]

[Albert in German] Mother, can a soldier have a head?

Eat.

[sings in German] ♪ Good soldier. ♪

♪ Handsome soldier. ♪

[girl crying, Anka quietly sings to her]

[yelling] Take the child away!

[crying]

[inaudible argument between Gustav and Resi, yelling at each other]

[Resi] This is my house, I can do whatever I want here!

- [Gustav] Bullshit, it's not yours! - [Resi] It's my house!

[Gustav] No, it's not!

[continued unintelligible argument]

[Resi] You look like a cripple!

- [crying] - [Anka] It will be okay.

[Resi] You look like a fool! You should have dropped dead there!

- Shut your mouth! - [slap]

[girl crying]

Why are you crying, you idiot? It's not even my child.

[crying]

Back when we were performing magic, I shouldn't have laughed.

[footsteps]

I don't want to see you in the master's chambers anymore.

You're no longer the foster mother of the young lady.

[dark music]

[Jancsi] Wait! Grab my hand!

Hold on!

[dark music]

[Jancsi] If he died there, they'd bring a coffin with metal.

He'd be more useful than this. They know him in every brothel.

[dark music]

His leg has grown.

[dark music]

I can't make a normal child.

[dark music]

[girl crying]

[Gustav] Without her, we could have been happy.

[dark music]

[music fades]

What is it?

[in German] I'm your good girl.

Or not?

[Kristyna] You'll have more, as many as you want.

You won't miss her.

But the child is missing someone, someone who had them and lost them.

Only the child is missing someone, someone who had them and lost them.

[dark music]

[music fades]

[desperate crying]

[dark music]

So they wrote about her.

About our Lisa.

"The maid could not bear the weight of her sin and hanged herself.

Thus she deprived herself of the kingdom of heaven."

That's right.

Thank God He doesn't read what's written in the newspaper.

Burn it.

[sad music]

Anka, I have something for you.

[sad music]

[Kristyna] Are they writing to you from home?

[gentle music]

[Jancsi] Screw you, you pig.

[Jancsi] Go to hell! Stand up!

- You damn monkey, stand up, don't fall! - Don't touch me!

[Jancsi] Do it!

[Gustav crying]

I swear I'll kick you!

[Gustav crying]

Help me, girl, help me.

Tomorrow, it'll remember shit.

He wet himself.

[Jancsi] I don't give a shit. Damn work.

[Jancsi] Fucking asshole.

[door slams]

Anka, when are we going to your Štiavnica?

[Gustav coughing]

Tomorrow.

[Anka] Pack the little girl and let's go.

Let's run away, we won't tell anyone.

I don't have money.

I'll earn it.

We'll enjoy ourselves.

[Anka] Just the two of us and the little girl, you'll see.

At night.

- At one. - Hm.

[Gustav coughing]

[Gustav roaring]

[Gustav laughing]

[dark music]

[Anka] I never dream at night, Liza.

Never. Not the first one, nor any other.

[gentle music]

Now I'm dreaming, Liza.

This is like a dream.

[gentle music]

[music fades]

[piano playing, girl screaming]

Divorce. Did you know?

[girl screaming and crying]

[woman] What will I do without you?

That's enough! Stop it!

- Leave me alone! Enough! - Don't go away!

For Christ's sake!

[woman] I'll kill myself!

We're here now.

And Vienna is here.

Austria.

And where is Znojmo?

Znojmo? In Czechoslovakia.

- [Agatha] And Těšín? - Těšín? Poland.

And Békéscsaba?

Hungary.

- And Anka's Štiavnica? - [man] Banská Štiavnica.

[Jancsi] Where are you going, girl?

Home.

My mother became a widow. Her husband was killed in the mine.

If you want, I can take the little girl with me.

No!

Yes. The little one will adapt there.

[Resi] No, Gustav. No!

We'll send you money every month.

[Resi] No.

- [Gustav] Take care of her. - Alright.

- The two of us can't handle it. - No, Gustav. No!

- Yes. - No!

[Resi] No!

We'll forget everything and start over.

- No! - [Gustav] We'll have more children.

[Resi crying]

[gentle music]

[Resi] Show me the town.

And the forest.

And your house, Anka.

In autumn, there will be plums, and we will make plum jam.

We will live together.

Will you wait for me? Will you wait for me, Anka?

Stop, Jancsi! Stop!

[gentle music]

[Resi] Wait.

[gentle music]

[Anka] Don't be afraid, Miss Resi, I don't mind that she is different.

[gentle music]

[Anka] I will tell them that she is mine, that I have a bastard.

[gentle music]

[Anka] And what's new at home while I was away?

[coachman] Štefánik is no longer there.

[gentle music]

[coachman] Those who fly high, fall deep.

[gentle music]

[Anka] I'll show you the town.

And the Calvary.

And we'll be together, Resi.

The two of us.

[gentle music]

[Anka] As long as we want.

I will be with you forever, if you want.

[gentle music]

[music fades]

Anna Murančíková took care of the little girl until her death.

And she never left Banská Štiavnica again.

She never saw her Resi again.

[sad music]

She passed away in 1986.

The little girl is buried in the same grave.

[sad music]