Pfennig.
Come on.
So...
you will lead the way.
If she has accomplices, you will die first.
If she is alone, it will be you who has the pleasure of killing her.
Take it.
Take it!
With one communication,
I can give orders for your sister to be given to the dogs of the SS.
Once the dog handlers have finished with her.
Move.
Move!
That's right.
Halt!
- Marie! - She is safe. I promise.
You just shot your commanding officer.
It's a long story.
Marie! Don't worry. Everything is fine!
The lock on the door is broken!
You'll have to pull the bolts across from the inside.
The Americans are on their way. It's only gonna be a matter of days now.
Your broadcasts are helping to target their bombing.
Just have to be strong a little longer.
Touch the door level with the bolt for tonight's instruction.
Our allies will do the rest.
Help me.
Are we going to leave the bodies here?
I have friends who will come and collect the trash.
They'll pick up the vehicle and feed the bodies to the gulls.
Good.
So, her name is Marie.
I don't want to hear her name in a German mouth.
So I don't know who the fuck you are,
but I do want to hear your long story.
Take off that jacket.
You're coming with me.
Marie! I'm closing the front door! Come down and lock it.
Let's go.
Chapter 22.
Part two.
Surprise!
Daniel?
Aunt Manec, this is my little girl, Marie. The one I've written you about so often.
Pleased to meet you, Madame Manec.
And I am so pleased to meet you.
- Uh, come in, come in. - Thank you.
- I'll take that.
Oop.
One more.
I know Uncle Etienne doesn't like visitors, but here we are.
My brother will adjust. Come!
- Where are we? - We're in the kitchen.
- Is he here? - Of course he is here.
He will be in the attic playing with his radio.
Etienne?
Uncle Etienne!
He won't hear you. He wears headphones.
- What kind of radio does he have? - Ah.
A very annoying, absorbing
24-hour radio that controls his mind.
But it's better than him staring out at the ocean,
which is the only other thing he does.
Daniel.
I hope you tell her every day how pretty she is.
Aunt Manec, she's blind, not deaf.
I will be her mirror on the wall,
and it will be me who tells her when she stops being pretty,
and starts being beautiful.
Aunt Manec, I don't mean to be rude,
but we've been traveling the last three days living on
nothing but scavenged herbs and stale bread.
- And stolen eggs and a stolen car. - Okay...
I actually drove the car.
She doesn't need the details.
Well, now I must hear the details! Come, sit!
Take cover!
See anything?
Take cover!
- Is that gas? - What's that?
Gas!
Etienne!
Put your mask on! Your mask is inside your kit!
Etienne! Etienne! I don't know what to do. I don't know how it works.
All right.
All right!
Get your fucking mask...
Etienne!
Uncle Etienne!
- It's me! Daniel! - Yes! Yes, I'm here.
May I come in?
Uh...
Uh, the door's locked. Just... just wait.
I know you don't like surprises.
- Daniel. - Yeah.
It's been so long.
May I come in?
Uh, no.
I mean, I don't think you'd want to.
I keep the windows closed because of the noise.
I... I startle quite easily.
Anyway, I imagine the air is heavy with the presence of me.
Well, I only smell lilac.
That's my cologne. My last remaining absurdity.
I will come down.
What do you listen to all day?
Oh, you know, the world talking to itself like an angry lunatic.
What's the microphone for?
Uncle Etienne, broadcasting from a radio is illegal.
- The punishment is death. - Is it?
I don't read the newspapers much.
Wait...
I smell a legendary omelette.
Oh, you are honored.
She's using rosemary and thyme.
I think the honor's not for me.
I did not come here alone.
So...
Let me tell you about my brother, Etienne.
I hear he likes radios.
I will tell you about him.
You see, Uncle Etienne was a war hero.
He won many medals, all of which he threw into the ocean.
The ocean that you see out of the window.
I can't see the ocean, Madame Manec.
Goodness. I'm so sorry.
So, he's a war hero...
The things he saw in the war, he is now unable to not see.
He sees them when he closes his eyes,
especially when there is loud noise or unexpected things.
Cars and seagulls screaming.
So, for 20 years,
almost since the day he came back from the war,
he has stayed here, inside this house.
He doesn't even go to the beach?
He doesn't even go to the beach.
Well, he says he travels the world through his books,
though I rarely see him read,
and through his radio, which I rarely see him leave.
I talk to him about fresh air and light.
- But do you know what the silly man says? - What?
He says
the most important light in the world is all the light you cannot see.
Marie...
this is my Uncle Etienne.
Etienne, this is my little girl, Marie.
Marie, you all right?
Yes.
Your father says you had a very interesting journey to get here.
I'm sorry.
I... I didn't hear. Can you say that again?
Your father tells me you've had an interesting journey.
It was a very interesting journey.
You have a radio?
Yes.
Do you broadcast from it?
Etienne, they are very hungry. Cut some bread.
Welcome, Marie.
Bread, Etienne.
You all right?
Breakfast is served. Eat!
Mmm, the smell of "home at last," Marie. Eat.
It's all right, Henri. He's with me.
Move this.
Stay away from the oven, German.
You like ovens in your country, don't you?
There will be more air raids tonight. We have much to do.
You should probably go and get some sleep.
- What about you? - I will interrogate the prisoner.
When I pointed out to you that you'd shot your commanding officer,
you said it was a long story.
You said you were interested in the name of the girl in the house.
Marie, it's a good name.
Why are you interested in her?
The same long story.
You tracked down the transmitter she's broadcasting on.
Shortwave 13.10.
What of it?
When I was a child, shortwave 13.10 was my only hope.
Shortwave 13.10...
was my escape.
My refuge.
I don't think you could ever understand.
Try me.
Bombers won't be here till sunset.
I have always been interested in radios.
And when I was younger, my interest got me into a lot of trouble.
What trouble?
Do not think!
Do not stop to think!
You have been given an order and you will do it joyfully!
Thought destroys action!
Friedrich Nietzsche states we are not required to consider our actions!
We must simply do and do and do!
Your father is the Führer and he tells you to jump!
Jump!
Come on!
Come on.
What is pain? Pain is nothing!
Keep moving!
In each of these boxes,
you will find all the components of a simple transceiver radio.
You have one hour to build a functioning radio
starting from now.
We are hunters, not the hunted!
The lion is not free to become a lamb!
Move!
The strong are not free to be weak!
The strong devour the weak!
Move!
Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach...
...none of them have done so much for the human race as Otto Grottingen,
the German inventor of the affordable radio.
Goebbels himself has said, without the radio,
the Nazi party would never have come to power.
What you are building is a weapon of war.
Fifty-three seconds.
Volkheimer, you go into the forest.
Get as far as you can in ten minutes, then turn on your transceiver.
Go.
Begin.
No.
Put it back.
When you're operating at the Eastern Front,
you won't always have paper and pencil to write down your calculations.
The Eastern Front? Am I not too young?
Germany needs geniuses.
Here, take it.
Write your calculations in the mud.
Volkheimer is 1.2 kilometers
south-southeast from this point.
Werner...
age is just a number.
Genius is a gift.
After that, I was fast-tracked.
I joined the signal corps
and eventually was sent to the Eastern Front.
And in the East, you hunted down partisans...
What happened after I reached the front is also a long story.
The things that I've seen...
they haunt me.
You should go to the basement.
The others will be back tonight and there will be a trial.
I will explain to them you were sent to the front against your will.
They'll only be interested in what you did after you became a soldier.
I have done bad things...
Many bad things.
I have done bad things too.
Thank you.
You never explained...
what interest do you have in this little blind girl
who beat you up so badly?
She's not so little.
Bitch almost broke my skull.
She has something that doesn't belong to her.
May I ask what it is?
It is a diamond.
Must be worth a great deal.
More than money to me.
Three years ago, I was diagnosed.
My body is eating itself.
Every day a little more.
And a diamond will cure you?
I believe it will.
For three years, I've been searching for it.
Three fucking years.
- Who took them? - I have no idea.
Go to this address.
If there are women and children,
shoot them if he doesn't return home in 30 minutes.
No.
Now, the clock is your master.
Let us begin again.
If you tell me the truth,
you will be home in time to save your family.
Who took the jewels that were in this vault?
His name is Daniel.
Daniel LeBlanc.
Master of the locks in the museum. God forgive me.
Where did he go?
I swear I don't know. He didn't tell me.
But the... But the jewels that you're looking for,
they're headed to Geneva.
They are hidden inside the head of a dinosaur.
And if you make that known to the soldiers at the checkpoint
on the perimeter of the city,
then all the jewels that were in this room will be yours.
Now, may I go home?
Please.
According to the archive,
there was one stone in particular in this vault
worth more than all the others put together.
It was called the Sea of Flames.
It was kept in here, yes?
Uh, yeah, it was never exhibited.
There is a superstition.
A curse.
Did this Daniel LeBlanc touch it with his own hands?
He does not believe in curses. He is a scientific man, as I am.
We were the only two to ever handle the stone.
- Only he and you. - Please.
Please let me go home.
- Was he alone when he took the jewels? - Yes.
Uh, no. Um, he was with his daughter.
A woman?
Girl.
She's blind.
He has a daughter who's blind?
Then perhaps Daniel LeBlanc, man of science,
should review his dismissal of the superstition.
Where did Daniel LeBlanc and this little cursed blind girl go?
I... I told you that I don't know. I swear I don't know! I swear to God.
I swear on the lives of my babies. I do not know, sir, where he went!
You know what the curse of the Sea of Flames is?
Please. It will take me at least 15 minutes to get home.
Please let me go!
Those who possess it live forever.
Please...
But their loved ones suffer terrible misfortune.
You should have at least worn gloves.
No! There's still time for me to get home!
Please let me save my family! My family!
We found the dinosaur head.
But the Sea of Flames was not in there.
Do you think the blind girl has it?
You know, when the Americans come,
the people here will drag me into the street as a traitor
because I slept with German soldiers.
Shave my head, cover me in black tar
and then throw pillow cases full of feathers over me.
Then they will hang me.
We will all face our fate when the Americans come.
Can you get me out of this city?
Why would I do that?
Because I know where the blind girl lives.
That concludes Chapter 22, part two of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
Papa, if you're listening,
I was almost killed last night over a piece of rock.
I'm looking for the Sea of Flames! Where is it?
I don't know how long I have until that German finds me again.
But until he does, I will remain here,
where it all began.
After all the bombs,
all the smoke...
I still smell lilacs.
There are five steps here.
Turning to the left.
And I'm only letting you in here because you can't see what a mess it's in.
- You won't judge me. - Oh.
Lilacs?
The smell of lilacs brings back happier times
when I was a young man and something of a dandy.
- You know what a dandy is? - No.
Good. Now, sit here.
Okay.
Right. You are now sitting in front of my radio.
Now, if I turn this on...
Now, this is the receiver
and that dial can carry me around the world in seconds.
One moment I'm in Africa,
the next I'm in Cuba, then I'm in Australia
and then damn, the battery's gone,
and I've got to go down to the basement to get a new one.
What's the microphone for?
Uh, the microphone is connected to this, the transmitter,
and I sometimes use it to add my voice to the babble of voices.
What do you say when you speak?
I say, "Isn't the world a beautiful place?"
And then you ask,
"So why are we destroying it?"
Isn't that what you say?
Sometimes when I speak, the words choose themselves.
Etienne...
Can I call you just Etienne?
Because Great Uncle Etienne makes you sound like you're some sort of emperor.
An emperor I am, but just in this attic room.
Etienne, I feel as if I know you already, just not by that name.
Marie, I think you should go.
Your father said he wanted to take you to the ocean.
- Why don't you come with us? - No.
Why not?
It's because you see things that aren't there, don't you?
Things you can't forget.
Marie, your father is waiting.
When I heard you speak downstairs, I was certain I knew your voice.
Most of my life, I have listened to the broadcasts of a man
who calls himself the professor on shortwave 13.10.
You are the professor.
Well, that's absurd.
Do I look like a professor?
I don't know what you look like,
but I do know voices as if they were faces.
You are the professor.
I was never really sure that there was anyone even listening.
I was always listening.
I think many of us were.
Well...
The professor's gone. I packed him away.
And now I use my radio for more important things.
What could be more important than everything you said to us?
Marie, listen.
You must tell no one about this, do you understand?
Yes.
Now, your father will be waiting.
Here.
Thank you.
- Be careful on the stairs. - I know.
- It's five steps. - Actually, it's six steps.
To the left.
So what do you think of the ocean?
Sounds like someone breathing in their sleep.
I always felt it was like the world catching its breath over and over again.
Catching its breath.
I like that.
We might have to stay here for a time. Is that okay?
- Oh, it's more than okay. - Oh, good.
Madame Manec said that Uncle Etienne was a war hero,
but he doesn't seem like a war hero to me.
Well, if you lock a tiger in a metal box,
it will look like a metal box.
I'm thinking I'll start at the coast road and then end it at the town square.
- Start what? - Oh.
I'm going to build a model of the town for your fingers to explore.
Otherwise, you'll be stuck inside the house.
You'll become like Uncle Etienne.
When I've learned the model,
I'll take him outside. I'll show him around town myself.
- Hmm. - You'll see.
No doubt I will, but now I must set to work.
Yes, there you are.
How on Earth are you going to measure out the entire city?
One step at a time.
And I'm the crazy one.
312, 313, 314,
315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321,
322, 323, 324.
Here's the wood. You're gonna hold it here.
We want to sand it. There you are.
No more coffee, Uncle Etienne. I'm finishing up.
No, this is for me.
And it's brandy.
So your measuring out of the streets, that's done, right?
Almost. Why?
Madame Manec was at the butcher's shop.
She heard people talking about the man who counts his footsteps.
This is a small town, Daniel.
What of it?
Another woman whispered that the man had a Parisian accent.
And a third said she'd heard
that the mysterious man from Paris had come to help the Resistance.
And he was measuring out the city for the American bombers.
Better fetch Marie and take her downstairs.
The Gestapo are here.
- Shit! - No, don't worry.
If it was for the radio, there'd be 100 of them.
They're just checking out the rumor of the strange man from Paris.
Just tell them the truth. Show them your papers and you'll be fine.
You haven't done anything wrong.
Have you, Daniel?
Etienne, there's some things I haven't told you.
What things?
Some secrets are better kept secret.
I don't expect you to understand.
You are not the only one with secrets.
Better go open the door before they break it down.
You know what not to mention, don't you?
Do not mention the museum, do not mention the radio, the microphone.
I know, Papa. We must not seem afraid.
No, we must not.
- 'Cause we're not afraid. - No, we're not.
This is the girl and this is her father.
You're blind?
Yes, sir.
- Hey! - It's all right, it's all right.
Our German friends just want to confirm Marie's condition.
- What am I holding? - I... I don't know, sir.
Your daddy has been seen around town measuring streets and pavements.
- Oh, yes, sir. - "Oh, yes, sir." She's cute.
Measuring as if to make a map for people who might be planning to come here.
I'm building a scale model of the city
for my daughter to get to know the streets.
Is what your father said true?
Yes, sir. And when we lived in Paris, he built a model there for me too.
One.
Two.
Both eyes pretty.
And both are not functional.
First part of the story confirmed.
Now, show me what you built.
Marie.
- You came here from Paris? - Yes.
What did you do in Paris?
I was a carpenter, as you can see.
Why did you come here?
To get my daughter out of the city, to get her some fresh air.
What is your name?
Claude. Claude Dugarry.
Show me your papers, Mr. Dugarry.
Now.
I will send your papers to Paris. They will check you out.
You have great skill.
And terrible misfortune.
It's not a misfortune. It's a blessing.
I can't believe it. You just gave false papers to the Gestapo.
They're very good.
I had the head of fine art restoration at the museum make them up.
Why doesn't that fill me with confidence?
Just get ready for supper. We need to discuss this with Madame Manec.
So, Etienne, how much does he know?
Know about what?
- I will take Marie to bed. - I don't want to go to bed.
- Marie... - This is a secret.
You know I can hear it in their voices.
Which is why you must go to bed.
Marie, please.
Come.
Since you are now living here,
it's probably best that you know the truth.
Within Saint-Malo, there is an organization.
Certain people within the town bring certain information to me
regarding troop movements, trains, ships in and out of the harbor.
- And I... - The radio.
Before the Germans came, I used my radio to preach peace.
And now it has become an instrument of war.
And a very valuable one.
I send that information on to London, using codes and ciphers.
If I'm needed, I'll do whatever you want me to do.
Right now, what we need is for you not to draw attention to this house again.
- Is that clear? - Mmm-hmm.
So...
the tiger still patrols inside his metal box.
Vive la France.
- It's as if we're under the ocean. - Yes. I used to visit for my holidays.
And I'd come down here to the fortress grotto to collect oysters.
Was Etienne here when you were a boy?
Of course, a young man.
- Here, hold this. - Yes.
That was before the war changed him.
Before it did, yes.
What is that?
That, my dear, is the freshest oyster you'll ever have.
Mmm.
It's even better than the ones in Paris.
What was he like? Etienne, I mean.
He'd wear cologne.
And when the girls rode on the back of his motorbike, they'd scream.
That's what I remember.
He was magnificent, really.
What? It was a wave.
It wasn't a wave. It was you.
It was you.
- It was a giant wave. - Where are they?
- Where are the little angels? Oh! - Ah.
You can see I sacrificed a whole suit of clothes for them.
Help yourself.
Oysters from the fortress grotto used to be the best in the world.
Oh! And they still are!
Perfection.
It's...
It's 20 years, Daniel.
If you like them that much, why do you never go collect them yourself?
- It's only a short walk along the beach. - Marie, please.
Papa, if you stop asking, it becomes normal.
Perhaps, next time, you could come with us.
When I learn the streets, I could take you out myself.
I'm sorry, Uncle Etienne, my daughter can be very direct.
Marie...
I think you know the reason I don't go out.
But there is no reason in it.
The past is done and gone.
I thought you believed in science.
- Marie, please stop. - No, no, Daniel. It's all right.
Marie, why don't you just imagine that I am like one of these oysters?
I'm stuck inside my shell.
But you're not an oyster, Etienne.
Whoever heard of an oyster wearing lilac cologne,
riding on a motorbike with girls screaming?
There. You've done it. You've made him very upset.
Perhaps someone must.
- Marie... - Yes?
Keep asking me to come with you.
And one day, if it's you that's asking, I just might.
Good.
Then that's settled.
Yes. Yes, yes, yes.
Oh, no, no, no.
No more oysters, you two. There'll be none left for Madame Manec.
Yeah... Uh... Yes, that's a good point. We probably shouldn't have anymore.
I can hear you.
- It's just the shell. - I'm blind. I have excellent hearing.
- All right. All right, all right. - Thank you very much.
Well, Daniel, in a very short while,
you will meet the Intelligence Committee of the Saint-Malo Resistance.
You know our secrets. It's about time we learned yours.
Shouldn't Marie leave?
I think Marie has proven to be smarter than both of us.
She should stay.
- We come bearing pastries! And treats. - Oh.
- Oh, hello. - Hello.
Uh...
Ooh.
Um, Aunt Manec, pardon me, forgive me.
But we're about to have a sensitive meeting here.
Indeed, we are.
You're the Resistance?
Smart boy.
May I introduce you to the Saint-Malo Old Ladies Resistance Club?
Women keep secrets far better than men, my dear.
These women also observe troop movements
and the passage of ships in and out of the harbor.
We shop for fish on the harbor wall. Three old ladies. Beyond suspicion.
Our shopping lists are the names of torpedo boats.
We take coffee to the young German soldiers
and they speak to us as if we were their mothers.
They tell us everything.
It's genius.
My sister persuaded me to become the honorary male member.
He was a hero in the trenches.
How much simpler to be a hero in your own attic?
And Etienne tells us we have a problem.
Yes.
Um...
At the Museum of Natural History in Paris, where I worked,
I removed all the precious stones and shipped them to Geneva
before the Germans could take them.
Bravo!
But I have no doubt my name is on a list.
Daniel gave the Gestapo false papers.
He tells me they are very good.
Yes, but still I'm a man from Paris with a daughter who's blind.
Well, maybe the Germans will be too busy to make that sort of connection.
The Germans are German.
There will be a unit allocated to the retrieval of the precious stones.
Anyway, it's... it's not really me who they're looking for.
It's something that I have.
A particular jewel.
The most famous jewel in France.
The one all the magazines say has a terrible curse?
The kind of stone that attracts madmen.
You have it here? In this house?
Yes, I had no choice.
If I'd known what you were doing here,
I would never have brought this trouble here to you.
If you want us to leave, we'll leave.
During time of war, Daniel...
priorities are altered.
You are family, you are blood and blood is forever.
But right now, our duty is to France
and that means we must lead the Germans down another path.
There's not a moment to waste.
Um, a return ticket to Paris, some cash and an address where you will be safe.
Marie, please don't worry.
Why would I worry?
Marie, your father will return. There is a plan in place.
What plan?
We have already asked our friends in the Parisian Resistance
to let it be known through their informants
that Daniel LeBlanc has been spotted in Paris.
Tomorrow...
I'll be photographed in a café reading tomorrow's newspaper.
And then they'll give the Germans an address.
But when they get to that address...
They'll find my things and some of yours as well.
I have them in my case.
I'll leave them in the apartment for them to find
and then I'll be seen and photographed in Bordeaux.
Bordeaux?
- It's just three hours by train, Marie. - And just for one day.
And in Bordeaux, our friends will let it be known
that a man with a blind daughter was smuggled across the border into Spain.
And the smugglers were paid with a large diamond
that has now also been smuggled into Spain.
- If the plan works... - What do you mean "if"?
If the plan works, I'll be home in six days.
Then why don't you take this cursed jewel to Paris,
leave it there for the Germans to find, and then maybe they'll just stop looking?
Because the Germans are our enemies and the stone does not belong to them.
It belongs to France and we are the people of France.
We cannot give our nation's most valuable jewel to these monsters.
I must leave to throw them off the trail, to keep you safe.
Now, Marie, I have a train to catch.
Etienne will let you use the radio.
Speak to me and wherever I am, I will listen and I will be with you.
I will.
I'll continue to speak to you no matter how long you're gone.
And I will be with you.
Papa, I'm still with you. I'm still speaking to you.
I know you can hear me.
You're waiting for the Americans to come and then you will come home.
I know it.
Good night, Papa.
I love you.
It's time.
Thought you might try to escape.
I stayed because I trust you.
Why would you trust me?
Yesterday, I was sure I recognized your voice.
Then I realized...
you know the girl who now broadcasts on 13.10.
You know the house.
You are him.
You are the professor.
I am a soldier. You are a soldier. Nothing before matters.
Sit.
So?
He's young, he's a radio operator.
- His name is Werner... - We don't care about names.
He was taken from an orphanage against his will
and made to join a signals regiment.
How many men, women and children have you killed?
My job was to locate radios that were transmitting messages.
And when the radios were located?
Give us a rough estimate.
How many men, women and children have you killed?
Sir, you said I could finish my story.
Please, I want to explain what happened.
We know what happened!
Our comrades in Normandy and Belgium told us what happened.
Anyone found with a radio was executed by members of your regiment.
Their families executed with them. Their neighbors executed.
Men, women, children executed.
He was just engaged in finding frequencies.
- Professor, please... - Professor?
We're not interested in what you have to say, German.
And we don't have the capacity to keep prisoners either!
I would take care of him.
He's not your child!
- Take care?! - Take responsibility.
Why? Why would you do that?
The verdict's simple!
- The sentence is death! - You don't understand!
- Who is gonna carry out the sentence? - I will shoot him with my own hand.
- No! Jacqueline! No! - Etienne, go home! Go home!
That was not a bomb from a plane.
No. That was artillery.
American artillery.
The Americans are at the gate!
- It is the Americans! - Papa, freedom is coming. Finally coming.
- Etienne, move! - He is good!
He is the enemy! Now, stand aside.
Stand aside, Etienne!
Etienne, now!
No! I have wasted half my life hiding from my fears.
Now, you must be fearless!
I won't tell you again!
- Stand aside, Etienne! - Boy...
- Etienne! - I am the professor.
Marie?
I won't tell you again!
I know you are up there!
Now, listen to me as you once did.
Stand aside!
There's no escape!
Run!