Berlin Syndrome

What is that terrorist group? What do you call that?

- Hamas. - Hamas. That's right.

Throwing what missiles and rockets into... poof! (INDISTINCT)

Would you like to come over?

Uh, yeah, sure.

I'll grab you a chair.

Thanks.

- Oh, thanks. - There you go.

Oh, cheers.

Are you South African?

Um, no, I'm from Brisbane.

Brisbane? - Brisbane.

- Where the fuck is that? - (ALL LAUGHING)

- It's in Australia. - Oh, okay.

Watch this, right. Watch my eyes, yeah? Are you ready?

I can do some very freaky, crazy shit with my eyes, just watch this.

Wow.

That was close! Come on. You're not getting that? No?

Well, I...

So, uh, where are you?

Come on...

It actually means that you have a lack of calcium.

No, it means I've been drinking too much beer. That's what it means.

- You want some? - Yeah.

- Take care. See you. - Yeah.

Adieu. See you later.

- Bye. - Bye.

Is there a lid for this?

Or should I just...

Okay.

Thank you. - Danke.

- Tschuss. Tschuss.

No, no, no. That's okay. Do you mind?

Thank you.

Help yourself.

My father grows them in a schrebergarten.

In, uh, cardboard boxes?

No, these are from the store.

Do you like strawberries?

Um... - They help you forget your problems.

What makes you think I have problems?

People who travel alone are usually in search of something, aren't they?

What makes you think that I'm alone?

I see nobody.

Do you always practice your English chatting up foreigners?

What? No. No.

I work in a sport school.

What sort of sports?

I mean, I'm an English teacher, that's why.

And you? What are you photographing?

Buildings, mostly.

I, uh, I really like the GDR architecture.

I wanna do a book.

We say DDR...

- ...Deutsche Demokratische Republik. - Yeah. No, I know.

Yeah.

- And... it was nice to meet you. - There's strawberry on my hand.

- Andi. - Clare.

Nice to meet you.

What did you... You said this was, uh, from a schreber...

Schreber. I don't know the English word for it.

Um, these are small gardens. All together and all with German flags...

and these... those, uh, small men from Snow White.

- Dwarfs. - Yeah, dwarfs.

Who lives in these houses?

No one.

Actually, it's forbidden. They just come on weekends.

It's my mum.

She's kind of obsessed.

Does she know you're here?

Yeah.

My mother used to bring me here as a boy.

I always come here to complicate life.

What?

Um, I think you mean to, uh, you'd say "contemplate."

Oh, yeah, right.

How do you say "complicate" in German?

Verkomplizieren.

- This one is nice, huh? - Yeah, I like it.

(GASPS)

Fuck! Oh, my gosh. Sorry.

Yeah, he likes you.

Hi. Hi!

- Oh, my God. - So, why did you come to Berlin?

Uh, I was working for a real estate company taking photos and, um...

you know, those life experiences that people talk about all the time?

I wanted to do that, so, I booked a ticket...

and put my stuff in storage and...

came here.

Pretty predictable.

I don't know.

Maybe brave.

A wolf.

There's a bar upstairs, um, if you want to...

come... actually, it's more like a... kinda crappy rooftop.

I'm afraid I have to meet someone.

- Otherwise, I... - Yeah. Yeah, I have to...

I've got stuff I have to do. I gotta pack. I'm going Dresden tomorrow.

- Dresden? - Yeah.

Why Dresden?

- Okay. - (ENGINE STARTING)

Tschuss, Clare.

It's nice to meet you.

Hello?

Hi. Can you open?

That one's my favorite.

She's holding her hands like that to hide her deformed finger.

I thought you wanted to leave.

So, if you have a question, you Google it.

Yeah.

Yeah, I'm... I'm definitely partial toward Google.

Are you not?

You photograph disappointment.

I mean, all this DDR shit...

all these dreams, it's all...

invalid.

But the people were brave.

Mm. Some were brave, some just got on with it.

I mean, you can suffocate anywhere. You don't need a wall.

How do you say suffocate in German?

Uh...

Ersticken.

- Sticken? - No. No. Erwurgen. No.

Erwurgen is...

- To choke. - Yeah.

Did a boy give you that?

No, my mum... did.

She said if I ever got into trouble...

I could hock it and come home.

Watch the door. It sticks.

So quiet.

Berlin is full of these empty places.

Do you want a drink?

Yeah. Thanks.

They don't open.

Should I make us dinner?

No one will hear you.

I don't want this to end.

All firsts end.

First airplane ride.

First time you get your ears pierced.

First drags of cigarettes.

First fuck.

I wish we could stay like this, where we don't know each other.

I wish I could stay.

What happens when you know someone?

You can see all the ugliness.

What did you just say?

I love your accent.

I love your mouth, your smile.

I love everything.

Silke...

may I ask you to please read the quote?

"Perhaps home is not a place...

...but simply..." Um...

"...an irrevocable condition"?

Bennie, I see you obviously consumed this book on the weekend.

Yeah. Okay, I'll make it easy for you, um...

James Baldwin wrote this in 1956 in his novel Giovanni's Room.

Who has made a start on it?

Hm?

Franka?

Um...

uh, the character is constantly moving.

He feels a little bit shame about, um...

about himself but...

he says he is, um, finding himself but...

he's... he's just...

- Flichten? - Mm. Escaping.