How I Was Stolen by the Germans (Kako su me ukrali Nemci)

Don't worry, my sweet child...

Somewhere out there, there has to be a world of peace.

A world of tranquility, balance.

In that world, bugs and butterflies are shiny and transparent,

the water illuminates the pebbles,

it flickers in the trees...

That world does not need truth

because it is in itself true.

In that world,

people love us without using us and deceiving us with love.

We don't need to search for love, because love is what it's made of.

We don't need to search for security, because we are safe.

We are immersed into its air, its colors, its sounds.

The miracle of life fills us up and unites us with the sky.

Don't worry, little one.

That world does indeed exist.

It has been created for the likes of you and me.

HOW I WAS STOLEN BY THE GERMANS

Go on and play.

Do you remember me?

I didn't become an actress like I wanted to.

For the past four years I've had this marketing job, I have my own agency.

Maybe one of these days we'll be needing your services.

- You're still writing screenplays? - No.

- I revise other people's screenplays. - That's that.

Do you remember me now?

Vaguely. I remember your sister better.

Yes, that I belive.

That's why I'm here.

Helena passed away.

I can tell you right now that I have no contagious disease.

Nobody's accusing you of that.

Besides, my sister did not die of AIDS, but of cancer.

That's her daughter.

She may be yours, too.

Sorry, but besides me, both of you had a countless number of customers.

Okay, okay.

Whether she's yours or not, I brought her to stay with you for a while.

I have a job that's not going that well,

and I can't take care of the child.

You are alone and have all the conditions here.

These are her things.

She doesn't have much, you can buy whatever's missing.

Until I think of a better solution.

What did you say your name was? Dita?

Alright, Dita.

You thought this whole thing out very nicely.

Your suggestion is excellent. Too bad I find it unacceptable.

I don't like people, their offspring either.

I'm not a good father. Or grandfather.

I'm probably not a good grandfather.

To someone, somewhere. Especially not here.

For 30 years I've not communicated with anybody, not even with myself.

So take the child and go back to where you came from.

Alex, dear, it's not true that people don't want to communicate with you,

nor it's true that you are bad at communicating.

Writers know all about communication.

- I don't want to communicate! - Of course!

But everything you don't want, you can also choose to want.

Just start wanting, everything will be alright.

- You don't understand me. - I understand you very well.

Get out! Get the hell out of here!

Come here, Romi!

My God!

- I'll be back soon. - That's what they all say.

And they all turn on the TV.

Here. So you don't fall in your sleep.

I do fall in my sleep.

You sure you're not going to keep the kid?

I know nothing about children. I don't know a single child.

I never took care of a child.

I don't even remember what I looked like as a child,

mirrors were such a rare occurrence and were hung high up.

Actually...

I have a sort of inner idea of what I was like,

but I don't have a single photo of myself when I was a child.

But they took care of you. You were once a child.

No.

They were creating some new world.

They didn't take care of me.

Expect for...

Maybe one man, briefly, during World War II.

God, it's as if it happened during the Trojan War.

It's a story I never tell. Not much of a story, anyway.

I think it's better than what I gave you last time.

I have to travel tomorrow.

To drive.

What did you say?

- Njegusi... - Cetinje...

Virpazar, Rijeka Crnojevica, Center for the Homeless.

Yes.

I'm grateful, doctor.

One should never say "thank you" for medicine. You are my only hope.

Bay of Kotor, SFR Yugoslavia. Cold summer of 1991.

We'll cross over to the other side of the bay.

You'll stay there with some people that will help you.

Stop playing with that cap.

Nobody wants me.

My mother didn't want me either. So what?

Where is your mom?

It happened a long, long time ago.

In a far-away land.

In a land beyond the seven seas, beyond the seven hills.

It happened in an idyllic setting,

between a wild cherry tree and a wild rose bush.

Her name was Jelena.

She believed that the world could become a better place.

She believed that she would become better

if she helped others become better.

She believed that people had the right to be happy,

that all they needed

was for someone to show them the way to truth, love, freedom.

What is truth? What is love? What is freedom?

She didn't know that, without knowing that she didn't know.

Something similar can be said about Djordje,

who didn't know and didn't try to find out

whom he should thank for the short-lived happiness

that made him indifferent to the cold that particular night, or morning.

Western Serbia, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Cold spring of 1939.

You'll be late.

They're waiting for you.

We are never late.

I never thought that you might like me.

Me neither.

What's there to think about?

Those are natural things. They just happen.

I'll come and get you, as usual.

Unless they arrest me.

And what if they arrest you?

- I'll still come. - You're lying.

- You should have told me. - What?

That you're a virgin.

Why?

Besides, you could have guessed.

What is important is the fight against the petty-bourgeois classes.

You don't understand the environment we live in.

My life is my own business.

Personal responsibility and the power of the individual.

That's the sole foundation

for the contemporary man and a responsible society.

Why did they turn off the road? Who prompted whom?

Why did Jelena, such a frail girl,

make love to Djordje, of all people?

Through this physical change,

did she want to prove the sophistication of her spirit,

her liberation, awareness?

Physically, she might have wanted to be a seductress.

But in all other aspects, she was the one seduced.

Jelena's father, my grandfather Aleksandar,

was strict even in his sleep, only smaller,

although no quieter than while awake.

His absolute, freedom-loving ideas concerned his life outside the home,

while in the home, the decency of keeping silent was a must,

and only he could publicly do what he wished.

As a teacher, he lectured everyone he could.

Zlatko and Zlata were practically children,

and Jelena's mother, Divna, my grandmother...

She kept quiet and acted according to the situation.

- Why are you looking like that? - Like what?

Different.

- Your dinner's cold. - I'm not hungry.

I'll warm it up, so you can have breakfast.

I said I wasn't hungry. I'm tired.

I'm going to bed straight away.

Jelena was completely aware of the discrepancy

between what her father said and did.

And, while not having traditional respect for him,

she loved him as her equal.

Blagoje!

Good morning, I was just passing so I thought I'd stop by.

These are for you.

How will we manage in tougher situations

if we even find these confusing?

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

These are for you.

Alright then, Blagoje, you wish to marry Jelena.

- Is that all? - That's all, Dad.

Don't call me dad 'cause I'm not your dad yet, and when I become your dad,

you will still call me as you did before, right?

That's right, professor.

You always were my best student.

People like us are not after a dowry.

When a man has himself he doesn't need a dowry.

Jelena is everything you want?

Everything!

Wait a little while, I still have to talk to Divna.

"LONG LIVE THE WORLD REVOLUTION"

This is what a sewing machine looks like.

Sewing on a machine saves time.

This machine, and many others, will replace us at work.

They will work instead of us.

We will have a lot of free time on our hands then.

We will devote ourselves to studying, love, play,

and everything else that helps us develop and evolve.

Not only machines, but all of nature will be at the service of man.

We'll bring breadfruit tree from Africa, it'll crop all year round!

Generally speaking, we will not have to work.

From the kingdom of necessity we shall enter the kingdom of freedom.

We shall all be rich and happy!

What is in the way of development today