01x01 - Teil 1

[bunniefuu]

Giddy up! Move it!

Come on! Giddy up!

Come on!

Right. Goodbye.
- Bye.

Yes, that's mine.

Thank you.

The construction site?
Which way...?

Good day, fair lady.
Give me a smile.

Don't talk to my sister.
Got it?

Calm down!

Make way! Move!

Bunch of scumbags.

We don't need
your dirty lot.

The construction site?
- Ah, go to hell!

Go back to where you
came from, all of you!

Oh. Thank you.

I told you, I won't
ride for the company.

We're haulers, father. Bringing goods
over the mountain is what we do.

Exactly. OVER the mountain.

I won't dig my own grave.

You should think about the future.

The mountain will crush those damn
strangers like red ants. You'll see.

h*, easy does it.

Easy does it.

There we go...

Hey, watch out!

How about you watch out?
- Moron!

Oh, a wise guy.

Come on, move it!

I'm looking for work.

How about that.

I have some road construction experience.

I planned and supervised
viaducts in the Black Forest.

I need hands-on workers.
The thinking I do myself.

Foreman, take me.

I'm a miner.
- Miner?

Arms like twigs!

Then take me
as a rubble shifter or odd-jobber.

I can run.

Yeah?

Then run!

Not bad.

He's in.

Now back to you, wise guy...

Get out of here.

Are you deaf?

LOUIS FAVRE & CO.

GOTTHARD TUNNEL
CONTRACTOR

What are these numbers, Bachmann?
- We have compression problems.

That's obvious. But I don't
care about problems.

Solutions, Bachmann. Solutions!

Good day!

My name is Maximilian Bühl.

I'm from Villingen. I'm looking for work.

The boss is busy.

I have to be part of this.
I don't care what as.

Why leave Villingen if your
father owns the Bühler Plant?

This here is different.



A year-round passage through the Alps.

The project of a century.
The technical engineering challenge...

Jumped ship on your father, right?
- No degree.

I'm a fast learner.

I've got ideas. And
I know my numbers.

Then do the math on this, Bühl:

A compressor with


How long for it to compress 10,000
liters of air into seven atmospheres?

Ten cubic meters of air divided
by the number of atmospheres,

times three, because
it's multiplied by...

That makes two hours

and 12 minutes.

Way too long if you ask me.

He is fast.

You're hired.

Thank you.

Don't be smug,
I need every man I can get.

What I don't need is a wise guy.
I need someone in transportation.

Transportation? But...

Know a place I can stay?

What do you want?

A place to stay.

Not here.

Do you have a recommendation?

Beat it.

I'm letting.

You're looking for a bed?

Yes, I asked everywhere.
The hotels are all full.

OK. Come with me.

We'll have words about this, Anna.

We were a village of just 300 souls.

Now there are 800 strangers.

So much has changed.

But it will benefit us all for centuries.
The world's eyes are on your village.

We didn't ask for it.

Good evening.

Good evening.
- Good evening.

What do you want?

A room.
- It's taken.

By whom? You?
- Yes. I'll take it hands down.

I'm the man you're looking for.

Come with me. Both of you.

Where are you from?

Let's try that again...

Tommaso Lazzaroni.
- Max Bühl. Soon-to-be engineer.

Reliable, punctual and clean.
- A Swabian.

You have something against cleanliness?

This is your room.

I like it.

I'll take it.

It's perfect for me.

I say the lady decides.

It was offered to me.
- Then why are we both here?

How much?

I'll live here.
- Watch it!


Payable in advance.



Ma'am, that's too much.
I'm only a miner. I...

Fresh linen once a week.

You can't do this.

What a rip-off.

There is another way.

Two hours, 12 minutes!

Rise and...

shine!

Only you bring wood from the station?
- Yes.

There must be more of you.

Yes, but we don't haul only for you.

Goods still have to go
over the mountain too.

The saws are always on.

But the trees aren't
growing fast enough.

And there's the transport problem.

Damn haulers.

That's where little Bühl here comes in.

Right.

I look forward to hearing your ideas.

The materials need to get here quicker.
You see to it.

Engineer!
- What?

Granite. After just 190 meters.

Nonsense. It can't be.

We've already lost
four drills since this morning.

NORTHERN PORTAL

TUNNEL LENGTH: 190 METERS

Move! Clear the way!

Another one broken!

It's broken! It's broken!

The drills are smoldering! Water, fast!

We don't have any water!

Stop! Stop drilling!

They'll all break!

What's going on?

Bravo, Tommaso, bravo!

You're a crazy dog.

Pull the drill out!

Gneiss, the toughest kind.

Telegram. Write it down.

To Mr. Louis Favre,

Serpentine gneiss at 190.

Impenetrable.

Awaiting instructions.

Gentlemen.

Good morning.

Please let us welcome
our developer,

Mr. Louis Favre.

Good day.

To start by reducing
the pressure from the mountain,

we will open up the roof section

to then push the waste out downwards.

The domed roof section

will be removed with drills.

The Sommelier System.

It seems that's precisely where
you've run into problems.

Drills breaking like matchsticks, I hear.
- Of course!

Granite is hard, Councilor.

You're only managing two meters a day.

It'll take 20 years at this rate.

Gentlemen, time is running out.

The railroad must connect the German
Empire with the East. And soon.

The Suez Canal opened four years ago!

We must consider the entire project.

Delays are inevitable, it's...

Delays cost us, Escher.

Everyone here has made
a huge investment.

And they will pay off!

For sure.

By the way, the drift
is exactly on schedule.

Four meters.

Yes, four meters.

I personally guarantee

that my Gotthard Railway Company

will meet the schedule
every bit of the way.

Is that so?

Those big shot Germans...

with their small minds.

They don't see the big picture.

Louis,

I just lied to the entire
Gotthard Company's face.

They deserved no better.

My bank needs security too.

My friend, don't let it upset you.

No one could have foreseen the gneiss.
- What about the expert report?

The survey, sure.
The survey is just a survey.

To make an impression, on the Company.
- You're scaring me.

No one knows where
we will end...

and certainly not when.

You have a contract, Favre.

If you fail, we're
both done-for.

Escher.

Not a day passes without

some wonderful invention
seeing the light of day.

Mr. Monier invented reinforced concrete.

Mr. Nobel's dynamite factory
just opened in Isleten.

You're placing all your bets on something
that hasn't even been invented yet?

The music of the future, Escher!

Our music!

We're creating something grand here.

Huge!

With the power of our
hands and minds.

Starting at the bottom to remove
the rubble would be easier.

Favre will do it his way.

Wouldn't it be better if...

What's the longest tunnel you ever dug?



Precisely.

How about putting it on a tab, darling?
- Absolutely not.

Oh, c'mon, don't be heartless.

These Piedmont fellows
are rude, rough and uneducated.

Everything OK?
- Yes.

But they're the best miners around.

Come on, then.

Be right back.

Don't be long.

Hey, Swabian!

Come here.
- Come on!

Men,

may I introduce Max, my bedfellow.

Max brought a suitcase
full of books with him.

No running out of toilet paper then!

Give it back!

You can't even read.
Probably none of you can.

Hey, Swabian!

Watch what you say!

Just having fun.

You sit in your little room
doing your little numbers,

while we dig the tunnel

and conquer the mountain
with our own hands.

Never forget it.

This morning in the tunnel,
he almost pissed his pants.

He went so pale!

Watch it!

What's all this bullshit?

This is our village, our inn.

Bunch of scumbags. Damn guineas.
- Uncle Hans is right!

Then who's going
to dig your tunnel? Who?

You Swiss?

You think you're special?

We get on just fine without you guineas.
And the tunnel!

You know the best thing
about this hole through the mountain?

It's a fast way out of this
sh*thole back to Italy.

Moron!

Hands off my chairs!

Stop! That's enough!

Take your foot off!

Take this, you pig.
- I didn't...

Apart!

Lock 'em all up, officer!

We're done here. Home!
- They started it.

Come with me, dumb-a*s.

Hey, grease monkey.

Kiss my a*s!
- You damn...

Too slow, fat-a*s!

Open up!

Open up!

What's wrong?

I'm looking for two men.

Here?

An Italian and a German.

Not here.

Italians don't wash
and they're always drunk.

We don't have their kind here.

I heard otherwise.

Something about a lodging room...

People do a lot of talking.

You want to have a look?

Come in.

But quietly, my father's sleeping.

Careful who you let
in, Anna Tresch.

It's not just a matter of dirty hands,

some men have dirty thoughts too.

Of course.

Well, then...

Good night.

Good night, Officer.

You moron!

Anna Tresch, you are an angel.

Thank you.

But no alcohol in here.

Drink, Max!

That mountain is the testimony
of millions of years

of creasing, folding, accumulating.

We have...

We have eight
layers of rock ahead of us.

And we can't even get through the first.

We'll stay here. Forever.
- It's only gneiss...

Isn't anyone waiting
for you back home?

No one as beautiful as you.

There's an expertise,
Favre knows what he's doing.

Sure, the fine signori
keep saying that.

You should ask my father.
He knows the mountain inside out.

But your father was only ever
on the mountain, not inside it.

They did a survey...
- Max!

A beautiful woman, and all you think
of are rocks, what is it with you?

Sit down!

Just imagine...

A voyage to the
center of the earth!

There he goes again.

Nothing can stop man now.
Not the weather, not the seasons...

Nor God.

Well, if that's not a dirty thought...

God is in there with you, every meter.
Believe me.

I want to visit you there.

No. Women in the tunnel
bring bad luck.

What about your Saint Barbara?
- Saints are an exception.

It's all superstition.
- Max, you're a real sapientone.

What does that mean?

A wise guy.

That amuses you, does it?

Yes, a sapientone.

Lighten up a little, engineer.

Soon-to-be engineer!

Engineer!
- I'm not an engineer!

That's enough!

Enough!

Quiet, for God's sake!

Bella.

Final station.

All just goods for the Company.

And there's not a single
damn cart here today.

Hey, what are you doing?

That belongs to the Company, hands off.
- I'm sorry.

And you are?

Bühl, Maximilian. I work for the Company.

Transport.

Transport?

And you're transporting the entire
content of these two wagons

to a super-modern construction site
on a donkey?

Until I find a carter, yes.

And why is there none here?

Because Mr. Favre can build tunnels,
but he can't deal with people.

I really have to get on.

And how should I,
in your opinion, deal with people?

Mr. Favre?

Well?

You basically just have to find someone

who will sign
an exclusive transportation contract.

"Tresch Transportation in return pledges

to exclusively transport with
all its vehicles everything

the Louis Favre Company
requires at the mountain."

It's an exclusive contract
providing a secure income.

Mr. Tresch,

the Company's offer
is extraordinarily generous.

Father, we would be subcontractors.

Sir,

I'm buying you.

You think you can defeat the mountain?

It was here before you,

and it will be after you've gone.

A little hole won't cause it any bother.

Find someone else.

I'd like to speak to my father alone.

Father...
- I'd be shaking hands with the devil.

It's a great deal of money.

No one needs us anymore
once it's built.

We could set some money aside
now to find a new job then.

Money, money, we're doing fine!

But only now, you stubborn mule.

Perhaps you're right. The damn
tunnel may never be built.

But what if you're wrong?

What will we do then?

What will happen
to Uncle Hans, Lisbeth and me?

Father...

Please, do it for me.

I don't want to have to work as a maid.

If only Mother was here.

She would back me up.

My father will sign the contract.

So we can get the goods tomorrow.

And not with that donkey cart.

Swedish dynamite.

Finally.

Did you know about this, Max?

We need lots of straw.

And a thermometer. Do you have one?
- Yes, yes.



Carry them like newborn babies.
Be very careful!

Hey, you! Go away!
This is not for you!

Go!!

It mustn't get below four degrees Celsius.
- Why?

The diatomite separates
from the nitroglycerin

and then the slightest
tremor is enough to...

Your thermometer.
- Thank you.

Are we ready?

Saddle up and get moving!

There we go...

Keep a gap of 50 feet!

Eight degrees.

SOUTHERN PORTAL

TUNNEL LENGTH: 120 METERS

Be careful, damn it! Hands off!

Leave them, they only
want the cuttings.

Easy, easy.

Is it true the dynamite
arrived from Sweden?

Dynamite?

Favre promised it to us long ago.

Tell them on the other side
that we need some of it too!

Anna!

Careful, but faster.

Just a little.

Hans!

Careful, but faster.

Giddy up.

Three degrees.

Steady, steady.

Easy, easy.

Come on, boys, nice and slow.

Hurry, it's getting
colder and colder.

Not too fast, Max.

All good?

sh*t.

Hans! Hans!

Your wheel!

Hans, stop!

Anna!

Easy, easy.

Anna!

Anna! Annal

Look at me.

Look at me. The temperature's dropping.

Walk on ahead.

Evacuate the streets and tell my men
to heat the dynamite storage.

Got that?
- Yes.

Go, go.

All of you go home! Go!

Good boy...

Close the doors.

The building is heated.

Everybody go now.

Go!!

We're not leaving.

OK. The rest of you, go!

We already lost one man.

You too, Leo.

Open the door.

Go away!

Beat it.

Careful.

I'll carry the last one.

Where is he?

Father!

Where is my brother?
- Get off or you'll be blown up too.

Father, stop or you'll be blown to pieces.
- Where is your uncle?

Give us today our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those
who trespass against us.

Lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

Everyone take cover!

Heads down!

Everybody all right?

It's phenomenal! It's...

incredible!

Holy cow!

Friends, the mountain is ours!

Tommaso, you are a great man.

You are a true hero.

Come off it.

You are!

You're so courageous.

Careful. You good?

Come, I'll take you to your bed.

To bed!

You're a handsome boy, Leo...

You don't belong
in that g*dd*mn tunnel.

And you're a good man, Tommaso.

I love you.

Damn, Leo. What are you saying?

g*dd*mn, I don't believe it.

Leo!

Wait!

But who are you?

I'm Laura Baffo from Valle Maggia.

My brother Leonardo

died over the winter.

The money I earned as a laundry maid
wasn't enough to feed my family.

So I buried him.

And took his work permit.

You know,

women in the tunnel bring bad luck.

Will you snitch on me, Tommaso?

Will you snitch on me?
- No.

Never pull this trick
on any of the others.

You can't do this!

My family has ridden
over the Gotthard for six generations.

Your father signed a contract.

As he refuses to work for us,
we must seize everything.

All means of transport,
including horses and carts.

Then we have nothing. We're ruined.
- No!

Not Miro!
- Miro!

That horse is blind,
useless for the Company.

It's dark in the tunnel.
He'll do as a mine horse.

Continue.

Times have changed. In a few years,
there'll be no more horses and carts here.

You're young, Anna.

Start something new.

And you get us some more carters.

Let me work on the tunnel,

that's why I came.

Did you read
the latest rock survey?

Three times.

Very well.

We need someone
to keep an eye on the excavated rock.

You do that.

NORTHERN PORTAL

TUNNEL LENGTH: 1,210 METERS

Payday! I'm buying, boys!

Baffo.

Giuseppe Dazzi.

Sign here.

What are you grinning for?
You've earned your pay.

Why only 20?

Minus the lamp oil and insurance.

Next!

Go, go!

I can only send 20
francs home each month.

He can't work anymore with that arm.

No, doctor. You can't do this.

Take your money and go.

But I need the money.

What?
- I need the money.

What about my family?
- They'll see more of you.

Please!
- Get out of here!

Easy, pal.
- Tommaso!

Let's go to the post office
to send the money home.

Maragoni, Raffaello.

Give me a kiss.

Lina, you're like the Swiss.

You'll do anything to take our money.

Then go home alone.

Give me a drink.

Listen up, Lina.

One franc if my friend gets a go too.

If he's clean.

He's German.

A German!

I know all about them.

Come home, Mommy.

Babili.

Go on home now.

Mommy has some ironing to do.

You have a beautiful girl.

So?

Are we going to have some fun or what?

Sapientone...

Look who I brought home.

A sedimentary rock
from the time of the folding.

Have you read all of these?
- No...

Yes.

Sapientone, that's enough work.

No. Go somewhere else.

I brought Lina home for you.

Sapientone,

you can go first.

I have to work.
- Come on...

Aren't I pretty enough?
- No!

My mind is elsewhere.

His mind is elsewhere.

Come. My mind is all over you.

Right, come!

What on earth are you...?

An additional guest.

That's another 50 centimes.

Anna!

This wasn't my idea.

Those Italians are all the same.

Max, my father will never forgive me.

Over time...
- No.

You don't know him.

He's as tough as the mountain
you're digging through.

My mother...

She knew how to handle him.

I screwed it all up.

No, you didn't.

We did.

Come.

Look, the route leads from Wassen
to Göschenen, via a loop tunnel.

On a ramp made from millions
of cubic meters of mining waste.

The tunnel's getting longer by the day.
We're doing 6.5 meters in 24 hours.

It'll work out in the end, right?

The tunnel will be built?

For sure.

New miners arrive each day.

There'll be more than 3,000
by the end of the year.

And they'll all need a place to stay.

Absolutely.

I'm going to build it.

With or without my father's help.

I can help you.

I'm sure Tommaso will too.

Tommaso...

I'm happy he has no wife at home.

You never know
what you might catch from Lina.

And you, Max?

Do you have a fiancée or a wife?

There was a...

nice girl from a good family.

Is that why you're here?

I had to get away.

Then I heard about this tunnel
and I just had to be part of it.

And was it worth it?

If only to meet
you, Anna Tresch...

These fast-paced times...

they take your breath away.

Right, Max.

A latrine on every floor.

Four rooms with four beds.



That makes 384 francs a month.

You're not bad at math.
- Your plans never work.

So what? You can't read anyway.

Leo!

"...a mixture of limestone and clay."

Tommaso, the boards are too short.
We need longer ones.

She knows how to give
orders, the signorina!

So you can mount her
you make me work!

No. Like this.

Thank you.

Six meters in 24 hours.

The progress from the dynamite
is sensational!

Yes, you won your bet on the future.

But you also lost a lot of time. My time.

You'll have to make it up.

Come now, let's celebrate.

The theater has new female soprano
singers and they're très jolies.

Push on. Drift, Favre!

More drift!

Where did this come from?
- Over there, from the hole.

Back up!

Ever seen something like this?

The heat in here, huh?

It's time I got out of this hellhole.

One step back this way.

I'll be in Lucerne
in a year's time anyway.

Stop!

Stop the drills!

Stand back.

And, dynamite.

Faster, faster.

Get a move on, you useless bunch.

Hey, we're too slow?

Do it yourself!

Go pick up your papers, polenta-muncher.

Stop!

Everybody stop, the rock is soft.

It's just tunnel sweat, keep on!

It's chalk! Stop immediately!

Do you give the orders now?

Chalk and clay sediment layers
between the tectonic plates.

A soft layer.

The pilot tunnel is far too long.

Over 1,000 meters without
reinforcement walls.

They're experienced miners,
they know what they're doing.

The inward pressure is immense.

This next soft layer won't hold.

Are you telling me what to do?

There are necessities
and risks that we must bear.

If you can't grasp that you have no business
here or at any other major project.

Give us a moment, Bachmann.

The Louis Favre Company
is a commercial enterprise.

It's paid according
to progress made.

Every meter further into
the rock pays hard cash.

Reinforcement walls

only bring us costs.

Hey, guys, look at this!

I must ask you not
to quote me on this.

Watch out!

It's collapsing!

After 600 meters,
there have to be walls!

Out! Everybody out!

Everybody out!

Leo!

Get him.

Get back!

He's not breathing!

Take his shirt off!

He's a woman!

Not a word!

The tunnel is collapsing.

Out of the way!

Make room.

Everybody help.

Be careful!

We need more people!

Take him to the infirmary.

Hurry!

No, no, there's
nothing to gawk here.

We came to help.

Miro...

Miro, Bruno... where are you?

Take ropes, ladders and shovels.
More shovels.

Two-by-two, secured by ropes.
- Come, ladies.

Mr. Knecht,
we need backup from the day shift.

Mr. Knecht?

Miro?

Miro?

Bind the wound.

Thank you, young lady.

Put it over there.
Wash your hands and help me.

You stay here. Hold tight.

Move! Make way!

Out of the way!

Lie down here.

Take it easy.

I'm sorry.

You're sorry...

You brought us bad luck, girl.

Leave her alone!

It had nothing to do with her.
The writing was on the wall.

You'll be fine.

I'm here now.

What's all this?

What are you doing? Get in the tunnel!

What's going on here?

Are you a bunch of pussies?

Move it, move it!

Off you go, into the tunnel!

The site won't repair itself. Move it!

Riedinger!
- What?

What's wrong?

Workers died here.

So? More arrive tomorrow.

Hurry up!

Bunch of vermin, the lot of you.

Scoundrels! Get into the tunnel, now!

Go! The tunnel needs clearing.

Do it yourself!

We won't set foot in that hellhole.

Get back to work.
Do as the foreman says.

You're all under contract.

I wipe my a*s with
your contract!

This revolt is a disgrace!

We won't set foot in that hellhole.
- Hear, hear!

Not one step into that hellhole.

No one enters the tunnel!

No one enters the tunnel!



We need to stamp down
on these rabble-rousers.

Director, sir...

What on earth is going on here?

What's going on?

They claim the lack of supporting walls
caused the collapse.

Who claims that?

The main troublemaker is a miner
named Tommaso Lazzaroni.

Has a reputation, back in Italy.

Fire them. Fire all agitators.

We should've built those support walls.

Support the chalk layer.

Water inroads happen in all tunnels.



It's the workers' fault.

They should've been more careful.

That's not true.

They do what we tell them to.
And we're responsible for safety.

Excuse me?

You stab the Company in the back
at the first given opportunity?

Will you take
personal responsibility then?

You were responsible
for the rock analysis.

If we take the blame,
it's the end of the enterprise.

We'll do as we always do.

Fire 80 of them.

The rest will toe the line.
Clear?

I cannot, sir.

Not this time.

Silence!

Silence!

Silence.

Men!

Miners!

You are here because you need work.

Because you have wives
and children to feed.

This is 30,000 francs.



It belongs to all
who return to work right now.

We're miners.

And we're proud of it.

We will not be bought.

No! No!

Be sensible. Please!

Think about your
families back home.

How do they survive?

On what?

Please...

Go back to work. Together.

No, stay put.

Stop.

Stay put!

No one enters that tunnel!

Men! Miners! Italians!

Stay where you are!

Tommaso.

You're fired.

Without pay!

Right...

On the double now!

You too, move it!

And you...

From now on you keep
an eye on a proper fitout.

They sacked me.

They'll get rid of me too.

The tunnel will be built
with or without us, Sapientone.

We're just two little pebbles.

Portland cement...

That's what we need to support it.
They're starting a factory near Solothurn.

Max?

Favre's waiting.

It was you who told Lazzaroni
the Company is paid per drift?

Yes, sir.

Your contract terms were imposed
upon you too, am I right?

Nobody forced me to sign it.

But then the tunnel would
never have been made.

Bühl...

There's no room for you up here.

Your ways with the
people here are a little too...

indulgent.

WORK PERMIT

The problems have
gotten out of hand.

We have to deal with
the Tremola in Airolo.

I need an engineer to
supervise the entire project.

Do you know of anyone?

No idea. Bachmann maybe?

Bachmann is an accountant.
He has no vision.

No luster, no courage.

He's certainly no engineer.

No, no.

I need someone with plenty
of spirit, imagination and passion.

A problem solver.

You, Maximilian.

But I'm not an engineer either, sir.

Lucerne is the engine room
of the entire enterprise.

You'd learn all there is
to know about engineering.

Everything.

Anton.

Carter!

Father, what are you doing? Come inside.

Come.

You lost your two guests.

And you can forget
about your business.

But my guesthouse is almost finished.



And your license?

You're a woman.

You can't run a business.

It'll be in my father's name.

Your father's mad.

He's completely lost his marbles.

He's all gone.

A male guardian!

It's ill*gal for a woman to run
a business in the canton Uri.

What will you do?

I'll marry.

Someone who'll front the license for me.

I'll find someone.

And I'm going to Lucerne to join Favre.

I'm going to be an engineer.

Yes...

That's the right thing for you.

I have to head back.

I'll come with you.
- No.

I'm faster alone.

Bye, Tommaso.
- Bye, Giuseppe.

Are you sneaking off?

I don't like goodbyes.

What are you going to do now?

They banned me in Italy.

Loud-mouth that I am.

And in Baden, there's a warrant on me.

Tommaso...

Marry me.

What?

You need a Swiss wife
or they'll kick you out.

And me, I need a man
to open my guesthouse.

Your people need the money.

We can set up the business together.

I want to marry you, Tommaso.

You are Catholic at least?

Yes.

And...

what about Max?

He's going to Lucerne.

He'll finally be
a real engineer.

He didn't get sacked?

No, he got promoted.

Tommaso, it's good for both of us.

And...

I'm not that bad, am I?

Shovels up!

Congratulations!

...of your heart. Heart line.

You are now a Göschener.

Padrone!

Friends,

I would like to raise my glass
to the beautiful wedding couple.

My dear friend Tommaso,
with whom I even...

shared a bed.

And gorgeous Anna,

surely the most beautiful bride
this village has ever seen.

May they have many children and
be happy until the end of days.

To eternal friendship and love!

Cheers!

Long live friendship, Max.

To friendship!

Hey, Max!

Max!
- Come, come.

Come!

Sabotage.

This was sabotage.

A year's dynamite.

How will we ever recover?

You...

LUCERNE, THREE YEARS LATER

Can't you watch out?

Can't you watch out?

Oh, it's you.

All-nighter again?
- We had to get done.

Don't you ever think of anything else,
Mr. Engineer?

You don't either.

I thought about the ventilation.

And me about how much
cement we'll need.

And about you, of course.
- Liar.

True.

We're late.
- Doesn't matter.

The boss is in Zurich today.

Don't you understand
what is happening here?

Our small country...

It's a breakthrough for the mountain
and for the country - into the future!

Must our children grow up
as enclosed as we did,

or will the world
open up to them?

It's the chance of a lifetime

to break our chains -
our mountains.

To stretch out a brotherly
hand to our fellow Europeans.

To be a people within peoples.

To add our voice
to the choir of modern times.

This is why I ask you

to grant a further subsidy.

But the end is not in sight,
National Councilor Escher.

This enterprise is turning our
country into a laughing stock.

And now you want us
to up the budget yet again?

The Airolo tunnel has its problems

because the Ticino dam burst again.

"The Gotthard Apocalypse".

They do the piece on stage every week.

But the Göschenen tunnel is on track.

We're advancing faster than planned.

How many times have we heard it?
Those very words.

The whole undertaking
is a huge money grave.

Very well...

Let us vote.

How can they freeze funds
when we've come so far?

You must make do with what you have.

Bankers!

You know the price of everything,
but not its value!

Truth is, the well is dry.

Sure, it's oh so easy
to sit in that cozy room,

while we battle that
mountain every day.

What about your Crédit Suisse?
- We've invested plenty already.

What's a little more, then?
- I stand in for that money!

Don't you get it? Under my name!
- I stand in for the project with mine!

Louis...

You must cut costs.

What's this?

The Company debt.

Just what's due this month.

You...

You cannot be serious.

Louis!

You know what this means?

It ends here.

It's over.

Yesterday, 6.30 meters
drift in Göschenen.

And 4.75 on the south side.

You Ticino folk are
behind as usual, Guido.

We're in no hurry to get rained on.

Here in the Ursen region,
it's just shale and calcite.

A third tunnel towards the center,
downwards, would act as a chimney.

That would solve our ventilation problems.

All could take a
deep breath again.

You'll catch a cold up there.

Be seated.

Uncle Louis...

But... it's a good idea.

Don't you think?
- A chimney?

Yes, it's a very good idea.

How was Zurich, sir?

Right, time to work.

Will you tell me what's wrong?

The partners are axing the funds.

Same old story.
- No.

This time it's serious.

My father has no
liquid assets left.

There will be no funds
to pay the workers next payday.

The Company will be shut down.

So that's it?

The tunnel will
never be completed?

It will be in Monday's newspaper.

Max...

This can't be the end...