01x01 - Episode 1

[bunniefuu]

[somber instrumental music plays]

[airplanes whir overhead]

[girl] Papa? Uncle Etienne?

If you can hear me, please come home.

The bombs are falling now.

I think the Americans have come to free us at last.

Uncle Etienne, it's not just that I'm alone here,

I'm also very worried about you.

You said you would be gone for one hour, but it's been days.

If you're hiding from the German soldiers, use the bombs to get back home.

[radio crackles]

And, Papa you said you would be gone for six days

it's been more than a year.

But wherever in the world you are if you can hear me I love you.

[airplanes fly overhead]

[b*mb whistles]

- [expl*si*n]

- [glass shatters]

[pants]

[ears ring]

[coughs]

And now, for those of you who listen to my broadcast for pleasure,

I will continue with my reading

of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.

It was given to me by my father for my birthday

when we were in Paris and at peace.

"The great depths of the ocean are unknown to us."

"Soundings cannot reach them."

"What passes in those remote depths, what beings live

or can live 12 or 15 miles beneath the surface of the waters,

we do not know."

[voice distorts during broadcast]

"Either, we do know all the varieties of beings which people our planet,

or we do not."

"If we do not know them all, if nature has still secrets

in the deeps for us, nothing is more comfortable to reason

than to admit the existence of fishes, or cetaceans of other kinds."

"If, on the contrary, we do know all living kinds,

we must necessarily seek for the animal in question

amongst those marine beings already classed."

"And if we do not know them all,

if nature still has secrets,

we should consider

that any species of monster

is possibly out there in the darkness

and in the depths."

Werner.

- [bombs explode in distance]

- [men shout indistinctly]

Take a last drink before we die?

It's brandy.

Older than both of us.

Older than we will ever be.

Neither one of us

will ever see Germany again.

Drink up.

We are about to die, Werner,

and you are listening

to the f*cking radio.

- What are you listening to anyway?

- I'm

listening to a girl reading a book.

And when a b*mb falls outside,

I hear it on the radio.

Which means

the girl I'm listening to is here.

She is here in Saint-Malo.

[sniffs]

[sighs]

Before they put me in this uniform,

I used to listen

to a French radio station.

You did what?

I broke the Führer's rules.

There was this voice

I listened to since I was a boy.

He was a professor.

I learned French.

And I learned

lots of true things about the world.

Listening to foreign broadcasts

is punishable by death.

Yeah, so what?

Ten seconds, a hundred,

we're both dead anyway.

The radio station that taught me French

was on shortwave frequency 13.10.

Ever since we left Ukraine,

I've been tuning to that frequency.

[distant expl*si*n]

And now

Now, when it's too late,

the frequency comes alive

and I hear a girl reading a book.

And I will never know who she is.

Goodbye, my friend.

- Goodbye.

- [b*mb whistles]

[pilot] Confirmed strikes

on German b*mb site.

Time to deliver the mail.

[girl on radio] That's the end

of tonight's broadcast.

I know that broadcasting could

get me k*lled, but I will not be silenced.

Papa, Uncle Etienne,

I pray that you are safe

and that tomorrow morning

we can break bread together

as we once did.

And to everyone else

I hope you will tune in again tomorrow.

[radio stops humming]

If there is a tomorrow.

[papers rustle]

[glass crunches]

[sniffs]

[gentle instrumental music plays]

[soft music plays]

[French song plays on radio]

Garçon

Come.

Tell me what the Americans are saying.

[waiter sighs]

Read it to me.

It says they will be back tomorrow

at midnight.

Everyone in the town must leave.

Bravo. Then this is it.

The beginning of the end.

They are telling us to leave,

but you have locked the gates of the city.

You bastards

have closed the gates so we cannot leave.

Don't blame me.

I'm not here to execute the w*r.

I'm a jeweler.

My job is to track down and identify

all the finest jewels in Europe

and deliver them to the Führer.

Since almost all of the other jewelers

in Germany were Jewish

and since the Reich,

in its endless wisdom, has decided

to gas, sh**t, hang, and starve

all the Jews of Europe to death

[slurps]

I'm the only one

of my profession still at large.

[officer sniffs]

And in pursuit of my mission,

I am here in this ill-fated city

[officer exhales]

to find someone who I believe

has something that I want.

A girl.

A blind girl, who I know is in Saint-Malo.

[softly] Who I know is in Saint-Malo.

[normally] When I arrived here, I told you

I would give you the time it takes for me

to eat a dozen oysters

and drink a bottle of wine.

Now, the wine is gone, the oysters eaten.

[slams]

You have ten more seconds to give me

the address of Marie-Laure LeBlanc.

The blind girl

that the whole town must know,

but who no one can recall!

I told you.

I have no idea who you are talking about.

[clicks tongue]

[tense music plays]

Ten.

[grunts softly]

Nine.

[softly] Eight.

Seven.

- Six.

- Go to hell.

[chuckles]

My friend, don't be ridiculous.

It is quite plain we are in hell already.

Five.

Four.

[sighs]

Three, two, one.

I will find her without your help.

[song continues playing]

[distant shouting]

[glass breaks]

[grunts]

[somber music plays]

[coughs]

[grunts]

[coughs]

Papa, where are you?

I'm listening.

[man] Okay. So, come down here.

- Where I proposed to her.

- Is that our house?

[man] No, our house is to

Over here a little bit more.

Let's not get distracted

by all the fancy places.

Let's concentrate on the task at hand.

At hand, you see? I made a joke.

Papa, in order to be called a joke

it must be funny.

[laughs]

Ah, you see, you were so busy making fun

of Papa you've fallen into the fountain.

Now, come here, let's

Let's start all over.

So, remember this is us.

This is here, this is home.

All right, now, go left,

first right, yeah, stop,

stop for the traffic.

Then cross, and then on and on and on

till you get to the park.

Which park?

The park where I proposed to Mama.

Tell me.

I've told you many times.

Well, tell me again.

You always stop after Mama says yes,

then you go quiet.

Marie, we're on a journey

and we've already left the park behind.

Now, let's see if you can do it

on your own.

You're all alone in Paris

with a very important message for Papa.

Go find me. What do you do?

First I go right, then on and on.

No, that's wrong.

I turn left and then I go on and on.

Stop for the crossing.

[softly] Stop for crossing.

That's it. And then what do you do?

You go on and on

And on and on and on and on and on

And on and on and on.

Is on and on done yet?

Yes, it is. So what do we do now?

You buy me a crêpe for my birthday?

[chuckles]

Absolutely. Not just any crêpe,

a chocolate crêpe with whipped cream on it

and then we go to the

[Marie] To the museum.

And on and on and on and on

until I reach the museum.

[Papa] Bravo.

Once we get there,

for your birthday you get to explore

all the wonders that are housed there.

[Marie chuckles]

- Does that sound good?

- It does.

[speaks French]

[Marie] Wait,

you changed things since we last came.

How can you tell?

Always the first room we come to

smells of sand. Now it smells of

Feathers and beaks and claws.

It's full of birds.

Real birds?

No. Stuffed. Dead for many years.

But since I knew you were coming to visit,

I decided to bring them to life

with this.

[birds sing on recording]

[chuckles softly]

Papa, living things.

Almost. Their songs are alive.

Everything has a voice,

you just have to listen.

[birdsong continues]

Listen.

And now, after a feast for your ears,

a treat for your hands.

You felt this one before just now,

do you remember what it is?

I thought this wasn't school.

[chuckles] Everything's school.

- Not for you.

- Especially for me.

Emerald?

Bravo.

You see, Marie,

the world's still the world

whether you can see or not.

Your fingers are your eyes.

You have ten fingers,

and most people only have two eyes,

so you're five times better off

because five times two is

Ten.

- Yes!

- Are there diamonds?

There are.

It feels beautiful.

You're beautiful.

[softly] Happy birthday, Marie.

Is this the most valuable thing

in the whole museum?

[whispers] No.

There's one other stone that's more

valuable than all the rest put together.

It's called the Sea of Flames.

Will you fetch it?

It's not allowed.

Why is it not allowed?

Ah.

Because it's in its own safe

in another part of the vault.

And anyway, it's already lunchtime,

which means,

you know what that means, don't you?

Eat cake.

Lots of cake.

And you.

Why am I not allowed to touch

the Sea of Flames?

Where do you want to eat, Marie?

Papa, why? I won't eat until you tell me.

[sighs] You're relentless, aren't you?

All right.

It's an absurd legend, Marie.

The legend says that the stone

they call the Sea of Flames is cursed.

There.

There's more.

I hear it hiding in your voice.

Tell me. Please.

The legend's from a time when people

believed many things that weren't true.

It says that whoever

touches the stone is also cursed.

What is the curse?

Ah.

The curse is that if you touch the stone

whoever you love

will suffer a terrible misfortune.

But if you possess the stone,

you yourself will never die.

So, as you can see, immediately,

from those two

physically impossible things,

the legend is simply nonsense.

Have you ever touched the Sea of Flames?

Come, Marie, let's eat.

[grunts]

[pants]

Bread.

Wire.

[grunts]

[distant shouting]

[woman] Hey.

Why don't you open the gates

so we can leave?

There's no food.

You want us all to fry with you,

you n*zi bastards!

[dog barks]

[grunts]

Hello?

[man] No bread here today.

No bread anywhere today. Marie

I didn't know when I'd see you again.

Monsieur Caron, I'm so hungry.

Do you have any bread left?

Keep your money.

I only have a stale scrap, but take it.

- Here.

- Thank you.

And I also have someone who heard

your message on the radio last night.

[knocks rhythmically]

Marie.

Uncle Etienne.

You came.

[Etienne] I heard you pray

we would break bread together.

There's little bread, but I'm here.

- Very clever telling me where to meet you.

- Where have you been?

[sighs]

I've been working.

I've been doing important work

for the Americans and the British

who are coming to free us.

But I'm afraid I caught the attention

of the Germans,

and if I'd come home

that would have put you in grave danger.

[both chuckle softly]

You still broadcasting?

Of course, the copy of the book

that Papa gave me.

Good. The pages I told you to read?

Yes, Chapter 16.

I think you know by now

that you're not just reading Jules Verne.

You are sending messages in code

that will help to win the w*r.

Now, I want you to skip ahead

to Chapter 20,

read just page one, then Chapter 21,

read only page two.

Twenty then twenty-one, first and second.

You'd better get home quickly.

He's right. It's not safe out here.

There's a German officer in town

offering food and money

in return for information

about you, Marie.

- Me?

- Why does he want to know about her?

I don't know. No one does.

But so far, no one has spoken.

Right, when you get home,

lock all the doors, all right?

I will.

[Etienne] There will be

more bombing raids tonight.

[grunts]

[winces]

What are you doing, soldier?

Looters will be sh*t.

Corporal Werner Pfennig, sir.

I'm with the Wehrmacht

radio surveillance unit.

My unit was deployed to Saint-Malo

to locate illegal radio broadcasts.

Last night my transceiver was damaged.

I need wire to continue my work, sir.

You're very weak.

Have you seen this?

Last night the Americans

dropped leaflets in French

telling everyone to leave Saint-Malo.

[Werner] I see.

Tell your unit that no one is leaving

or will be allowed to leave.

We stay in Saint-Malo to the last man.

My unit is all dead, sir.

I am the last man.

Where are you billeted?

The Hotel of Bees.

- Place de Concord.

- Mm-hmm.

Your work is important.

I will do what I can to help.

[grunts]

[woman] Remember, boys and girls,

Werner built

this radio contraption himself

out of things other people threw away.

So often, people discard things

of no use to them,

which are precious to others.

Just as Werner

and all of you are precious to me.

No one taught him what to do.

Werner is a mixture of genius

and persistence and bits from books.

If it works, it'll be a small miracle.

Is it ready, Werner?

I hope so, Frau Elena.

Then turn it on.

[static over radio]

[crackles]

[classical music plays over radio]

[rousing music swells]

[static over radio]

[man on radio] In fact the lambent light

emitted from burning a bit of coal

Girls are not allowed.

Hush. I'm your sister.

What have you found?

I have found the whole world, Jutta.

Vienna 65. Dresden 88. London 100.

But late at night, I get this from France.

Shortwave 13.10.

The most amazing professor.

He's saying the most amazing things.

[professor on radio] The human brain

is locked in total darkness.

It is forbidden.

If you listen you will learn.

Your brain floats in a clear liquid

inside the skull, never in the light.

And yet, in this darkness, the world

the brain constructs is full of light.

It brims with color and movement.

What may be

the most complex object in existence,

one wet kilogram

within which spins the universe.

So how, children, does the brain,

- which lives without a spark of light

- Psst.

build for us a world full of light?

It's very late, Marie.

He only broadcasts when it's late.

Who does?

The professor

who explains darkness and light.

That's fascinating, but it's late,

and you have school tomorrow.

- So, it's time to get a little rest.

- Okay.

- [chuckles]

- Good night, sweetheart.

He says the most important light

is the light you cannot see.

What does that mean?

Well, if you hadn't interrupted me,

I would have found out.

[chuckles]

If he does explain it to you,

perhaps you can explain it to me

in the morning.

Ten more minutes.

[professor] ten trillionth

of all the light in the universe

is visible to our eyes.

And even in complete darkness

there is still light inside your mind.

[Marie] Professor,

there is still light inside my mind.

Ladies and gentlemen,

before I begin my broadcast today,

I have something to say.

Something from my own heart.

Many years ago,

a great professor used to offer

words of wisdom

to children on this very frequency.

He spoke to children all across Europe.

And when he spoke, he always played

a particular piece of music.

It was this.

[soft piano music plays]

In this time of stupid darkness,

in this time of ridiculous old men

invading cities,

stealing whole towns

like bullying children stealing toys,

I thought I would try to remember

some of the things the professor said,

and share them.

Because he spoke always about light.

[chuckles]

I don't speak as well

as the professor once did, but I'll try.

He said the light

that comes when you burn coal

or charcoal or peat

He said

the light you get

from a piece of coal

is actually sunlight.

The point is light lasts forever.

For a billion years

inside a piece of coal.

But darkness, the professor said

[both] Darkness lasts

not even for one second

when you turn on the light.

That's all I wanted to say.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

by Jules Verne.

[officer] Corporal Pfennig!

Get up here!

Move!

[radio broadcast fades out]

Why are you hiding down there?

It is as good a b*mb shelter as any, sir.

Hmm. [sighs]

From now on

you will work up here. In the light.

Where we can see you.

Yes, sir.

It is now confirmed

that last night's bombing of Saint-Malo

was not random.

It was targeted.

They are hitting our positions

with great accuracy.

Someone is giving them information.

Have you detected any radio transmissions

from inside the city wall?

No, sir.

Even seemingly harmless messages

can contain coded information.

Yes, sir. I am also trained

in code breaking.

I was top of my class

at the National Political Institute

of Education in Berlin.

And the Institute in Berlin

is the best in Germany.

Yes. Sergeant Schmidt

was also at the Institute in Berlin.

Top of his class in 1942, right?

Schmidt has just arrived from Paris.

You said your unit is gone.

Schmidt will, from now on,

accompany you and help you in your work.

Possession of any

radio broadcast equipment

inside the city walls of Saint-Malo

is now punishable by death.

Yes, sir.

And from now, you won't be reliant

on stray pieces of wire.

Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.

Heil h*tler.

Heil h*tler.

Do you want a drink?

Do you want to win this w*r or not?

You heard the captain.

We must find the person

broadcasting our coordinates.

Hey, Pfennig, I am the ranking officer

and you are not allowed to drink on duty.

Do you hear me?

Tell me about your time at the Institute.

[tense music plays]

[music plays on gramophone]

"We can be friends."

"I hope we can soon be"

[door opens]

[officer] Hmm.

Preparing for happier days to come, yes?

My profession was once

to cut and arrange flowers.

I hope someday it will be again.

For now, it is about welcoming

all nationalities and, and cultures.

It's ten francs.

No, no, no.

That is not the purpose of my visit.

I'm no longer interested in sex.

I'm taking some very serious medication

for a very serious condition.

In truth, losing my libido

has been like

being unchained from a lunatic.

[laughs]

Sit.

Please, sit.

You may have heard rumors around town

about a particular German officer

who is in Saint-Malo

to find a particular girl.

But now that the outcome

of the w*r is in grave doubt,

I'm having difficulties

getting people to give me information.

People really don't think

the outcome is in doubt.

The Americans will be dropping

more bombs within the hour.

[chuckles softly]

From the way people protect this girl,

I'm beginning to sense that her family

was somehow involved in the resistance.

Her father, an uncle called Etienne.

A spy of some kind

I wake, I work, I sleep.

People are now more afraid

of the resistance than they are of me.

So they tell me nothing.

That is why I decided

to make inquiries with someone

for whom straightforward

financial transactions

are not cluttered up

with moral considerations.

This girl is called Marie-Laure LeBlanc.

She's blind. I need her address.

I'm [laughs]

I'm not in the best condition

for this task.

I do not recommend

mixing Beaujolais with morphine.

[laughs]

But I am in a hurry.

- [radio hums]

- [sighs]

I have one more thing to say to my father.

Papa, I imagine you somewhere

with only my voice for company.

I cannot leave you alone.

I promised I would speak to you always.

And I will.

I'll talk to you,

give you a reason to hope.

[vehicle passes]

Anything?

No.

My turn. You get some sleep.

I I don't sleep much. I never have.

I can take your shift if you want.

I said it's my turn.

I don't give a f*ck if you sleep or not.

sh*t. No wonder you don't hear anything,

the power wire went loose. Jesus.

Yeah, well, you know what?

I did that to check you out.

To see if you knew anything at all

about radio transceivers.

What are you talking about?

I'm talking about I don't remember you

at the National Institute.

You told the officer you were

Class of '42.

I remember who came top of the class

in '42 and it wasn't f*cking you.

So I didn't come top of my class.

I don't remember you at all.

How long did you last?

The National Institute is an elite school.

63% of the intake don't make it.

I've got an idea about you, Schmidt.

You are one of the 63.

I mean, all this chaos, paperwork b*rned,

a lot of rejects saying

all kinds of things officers want to hear.

Look at me, Mr. Sixty Three.

It was lie or get sent East.

I was frozen

beaten, run half to death

in that f*cking school.

And I earned my commendation.

I still correspond with the commandant.

So one word from him

and to the East you will go.

Now, you and me

are going to have

a glass of Schnapps to toast the Führer.

And then we will

sit down together as equals.

I I don't drink.

Yes. Yes, you do.

To the Führer.

And the truth.

Thank you for listening.

That is the end of tonight's broadcast.

[dog barks in distance]

[Schmidt coughs and retches]

People drink that stuff

to celebrate? Jesus.

[Werner] How long did you

really last at the Institute?

Two weeks.

Two wild pig hunts.

I was the wild pig both times.

You said you know Commandant Bastian?

I remember his rules.

Whoever finishes the as*ault course last

gets a ten-second head start.

Ten seconds was not enough for me.

I got caught both times.

You either die like a lion

or you go over like a glass of spilt milk.

Isn't that what they taught us

at the Institute?

My father hasn't spoken to me

since I was dismissed.

[vehicle passes]

[men shout outside]

I'm a glass of spilt milk.

But I'm not an idiot.

I have a secret.

You have a secret.

When I turned on the radio,

someone was broadcasting.

Who?

On the transceiver

it said shortwave 13.10.

What is that?

It is a frequency that I have

listened to since I was a child.

There was a professor. He told us facts.

Facts when everyone else

was giving us opinions.

He used to say, "Open your eyes and see

what you can with them

before they close forever."

And I have tried to do that.

But most of what I've seen

I would sooner forget.

Since I became a radio operator,

I've found hundreds of frequencies

and located the transceivers.

I've seen the SS sh**t

sh**t the enemies of the Reich

who were operating them.

Yes.

As I was trained to do.

But when I'm alone

wherever I've been

I listen to shortwave 13.10.

There was always silence

until I reached Saint-Malo.

And I heard a girl reading a book.

What girl?

I don't know.

Maybe the professor's daughter.

Maybe someone else

who used to listen to him, just like me.

Someone from our generation who thought

if you open up the frequency

and talk reason and sense

and literature to people

the way the professor used to do,

then maybe the insanity of this

old man's w*r might come to an end.

Whoever she is, she's

She's okay.

13.10 is in good hands.

So

I have your secret.

But I can't trust you with mine.

I can't go East.

This is w*r.

One more body added to 50 million.

- I'm sorry, Werner

- Will you track down the girl?

I will do my duty.

[pants]

Like they said

"You die like a lion

or you fall like a glass of spilt milk."

Please. Spare me.

I will spare shortwave 13.10.

Please

[body thuds]

[officer] Hello, Marie.

I couldn't get your address.

Somebody told me

that you and your papa used to come here.

You look hungry.

[gasps]

But then again, I suppose everybody

is hungry in Saint-Malo right now.

I am I'm very sorry, I need to go.

My uncle's waiting

Please. Please!

Who are you?

Someone who means you no harm.

If you give me what I want.

What do you want?

- [distant expl*si*n]

- [rumbling]

This w*r, this madness, all these lives,

they mean nothing to me.

I just want to live.

And I believe you can help me.

How can I help you?

Your father once worked

in the museum in Paris, yeah?

He had in his care many precious stones.

There was one stone in particular.

Vision is a wonderful thing.

I see you know

the particular stone I'm talking about.

It is called the Sea of Flames.

The legend says it can cure any illness.

And whoever possesses it

will live forever.

My father, he told me the legend.

But it's it's a fable.

It's only believed by fools.

Well

this fool is taking a m*llitary-issue

Walther PPK from its holster.

I'm now pointing the g*n at your head.

You and your father fled Paris

when the w*r broke out.

He took with him many jewels to keep them

out of the hands of the Nazis.

I'm not interested

in the diamonds and the sapphires.

[g*n cocks]

I'm only interested in the Sea of Flames,

which I believe

he left in your possession.

Marie-Laure

I want you to tell me where it is.

You have ten seconds.

- I don't

- Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Speak, Marie!

My father just told me about the stone.

- Six.

- Did you think it was going to be here?

- Five.

- I don't know where it is. I don't know!

Four.

[professor] The most important

light of all

- Three.

- I don't know where it is!

- Two.

- I don't know!

[professor] is the light we cannot see.

[g*nsh*t]