FADE IN
EXT. HEAVENS
– TIMELESS ETERNITY
Amidst the bright,
angelically cloud-filled heavens, a calm yet mysterious wind - the SPIRIT OF
GOD - ancient, holy, fearful, and alluring, swirls to life and slowly descends
earthbound -
BONHOEFFER (V.O.)
“Years ago, a French pastor friend
and I were discussing what we
wanted to do with our lives.”
EXT.
MAGESTIC MOUNTAIN RANGE - DUSK
- rushing
over the faintly glowing alps, stirring the clouds -
BONHOEFFER (V.O.)
“He said he would like to become
a saint – and I think it is quite
likely he did become one.”
EXT.
VAST GERMAN COUNTRYSIDE
- as IT
travels across serene, rustic, night-drenched low-land hills and valleys, piercing
through low hanging fog -
BONHOEFFER (V.O.)
“At the time I was very impressed
but I disagreed with him.”
EXT.
SUBURB OF BERLIN
- working its
way along a roughly paved road through the quaint outskirts of this marvelous,
distinctly German town –
BONHOEFFER (V.O.)
“I said that I should like to
learn to have faith.”
EXT.
DOWNTOWN BERLIN
- slowing as
IT reaches the bustling heart of the city until it stops at a magnificent synagogue
– ageless, ornate, awesome.
BONHOEFFER (V.O.)
“For a long time I didn’t realize
the depth of the contrast.”
EXT.
DARK ALLEY ACROSS TOWN
IT rests for
a few moments of calm, tranquilizing peace… -
- then a blurred flurry of MILITANT MEN –
shouting, drinking, cursing – load into a convoy of trucks and speed off as –
EXT.
BACK TO SYNAGOGUE - FRONT STEPS
… an elderly, handsomely dressed RABBI, the
personification of wisdom, godliness, and tradition greets entering parishioners
as he gazes
with foreboding concern into the mysterious night.
RABBI (V.O.)
“Remember Thy congregation which
Thou hast purchased of old… ”
EXT.
BACK TO SIDE STREET – INSIDE TRUCK
While the trucks race madly along, the men inside are issued Lugers, rifles,
ammunition, clubs, and axes as a WILD-EYED LEADER barks out orders, inciting
the vilest in them as -
INT. SYNAGOGUE FRONT ALTAR
- the
nobility and sanctity of the Jewish faith echo through time-honored symbols:
the bimah, ark, Torah scrolls, menorah…
RABBI (V.O.)
“… the rod of Thine inheritance
which Thou hast redeemed… ”
EXT. TRUCK
As men, rabid,
hate-filled, and almost demonic, load up and prepare for serious and violent
confrontation -
INT. SYNAGOGUE
- the Rabbi
rises from praying, opens the Torah, and solemnly chants to kneeling
worshippers who reverently echo his words.
RABBI (V.O.)
“this mount Zion where Thou
have gloriously dwelt.”
EXT.
DOWN THE STREET FROM THE SYNAGOGUE
While gangs
of FRENZIED MEN bail out of trucks, fall in line, and ready their weapons with
militaristic precision, they are dealt lit torches and final instructions and
sent out wildly into the terrible night. We see many of their evil faces.
INT.
SYNAGOGUE FRONT ALTAR
The
Rabbi stops reading, sensing something fearful in the air as does his
parishioners who nervously look around, hearing the riotous noises outside
growing louder and more intense until -
- A GANG OF men burst THROUGH THE DOORS and ransack
the place!
RABBI (V.O.)
“The enemy has damaged everything
within the sanctuary.”
Violently desecrating
the altar and breaking the sacred icons, the maniacal marauders pillage the
synagogue, as people flee.
RABBI (V.O.)
“Thine adversaries have roared in
the
midst of Thy meeting place…
Continuing to
beat the congregants mercilessly and destroying everything in their way, they
start to burn the synagogue down.
RABBI (V.O.)
“They have defiled the dwelling
place of Your name.”
Several thugs
round up a defensive JACOB, 45, his horrified wife, HANAH, 42, and their petrified
son, ELI, 6, separating the wife from the son and husband, and dragging them
off -
RABBI (V.O.)
“They said in their hearts, let
us
destroy them together.”
EXT. SYNAGOGUE
-
as the synagogue and many others down the street burn down.
RABBI (V.O.)
“They have burned all the meeting
places
of God in the land.”
INT.
BONHOEFFER HOUSE UPSTAIRS STUDY
A STUDIOUS
YOUNG MAN, his back to us, calmly reads his Bible in candle light when the hurried
sounds of footsteps approach. EBERHARD BETHGE, 31, troubled and out of breath,
bolts in.
BETHGE
They’re finally doing it!
Damn Nazis!
The
young man keeps reading, ignoring the intruder -
BETHGE
They’ve never been so bold.
They’re burning synagogues…
openly… everywhere… Dietrich,
did you hear me?!
- as he curtly
holds his hand up to silence Bethge’s intrusion, sadly sighing at the awful
news, his back still turned away.
MAN
Can we really be surprised?
And it’s all legal.
As Bethge
leaves, the man drops his head in humble prayer.
MAN
First the synagogues, then the
First the synagogues, then the
churches.
He writes in
the margin of his Bible “September 9, 1938”, shuts it and caresses it gently,
then blows out the candle, with only his concerned face illuminated in the foreboding
moonlight.
EXT.
SYNAGOGUE – FRONT STEPS
The Rabbi,
beaten and bloody, is dragged away, clutching his tattered Torah. Jacob and Eli
are violently separated while…
The gutted
synagogue smolders in ruin.
Hannah and
several other women weep uncontrollably in horror
as
the once strong SPIRIT OF GOD has ebbed to a hushed whisper.
RABBI (V.O.)
“There
is no more any prophet:
nor
any among us that knoweth how
long
will the adversary revile.”
Evil has won
the night. All across the city, the streets are
ablaze
in haunting flames. Evil owns the night.
EXT.
DOWNTOWN BERLIN – MORNING
SHOPKEEPERS
sweep piles of rubble and broken glass as SS GUARDS herd an endless line of arrested MEN down the street, watching
every move, looking for a reason to exert their authority.
Eli runs
through the crowd, calling out for his father with no success. Several amused
guards jostle him around until he finally spots Jacob and breaks free, running
to him.
Jacob brushes
Eli aside, fearing the attention, as Eli clutches his father dearly. Two SS men
notice them, one snickering as he holds back the other from going after them.
MAN
Leave the vermin alone.
They’re all headed for the
same place.
A gang of
obnoxious SCHOOL BOYS, stick guns in hand, dance tauntingly around Eli,
knocking him to the ground and kicking him wildly, then mockingly strut behind their
SS guard idols –
EXT.
CROWDED MAIN STREET
- while a
wave of HITLER YOUTH proudly stride in sync behind a larger procession of NAZI SOLDIERS,
cheered on by ecstatic revelers, who
joyously sing in a sea of posters and propaganda.
Signs read,
“GERMANY IS GREAT AGAIN” and “LONG LIVE OUR FUHRER” as an army of well-synchronized SOLDIERS parade by –
the same thugs we saw the night before – as they march in step, decked out in
full SS uniform, revered by the crowd as they –
EXT.
BERLIN SPORTS PALACE
- join an
even grander display of Nazi pride and pageantry into an overwhelming ocean of POSSESSED PARTISANS.
Row upon row
of fanatical people focus on a reviewing stand where ADOLPH HITLER pompously
stands and waves at the adoring masses – a king to his loyal subjects.
EXT. NAZI
PARTY HEADQUARTERS MEETING HALL
hundreds of ECSTATIC UNIFORMED
MEN stand and salute pictures of Adolph Hitler amid an eerie torch-lit ceremony
of Nazi flags and regalia as they chant in monotone ritual.
OFFICERS
I swear before God to give my
unconditional
obedience to Adolf
Hitler, Fuhrer of the Reich and…
Distinguished,
highly decorated STURMBANNFUHRER GUSTAV KRIEGER, 55, stoically utters the oath,
unimpressed by the fanaticism.
OFFICERS
…
of the German people, Supreme
Commander
of the Wehrmacht…
INT.
REICH CHURCH ASSEMBLY HALL
Hundreds of ROBED CLERGY
stand in awed respect. Everywhere is the
unholy intermingling of Nazism and the church: SS uniforms and Bibles, crosses
and swastikas. Nazism is at home here.
PASTORS
…
and I will be true and obedient
to
the Fuhrer of the German
people
and state, Adolf Hitler…
PASTOR HERMAN
FRITZ, 29, the picture of coerced fear and timidity, weakly mumbles words,
detesting every one of them.
PASTORS
…
and pledge myself to every
sacrifice
and service on
behalf
of the National Party.
INT.
GERMAN ARMY INTELLIGENCE HEADQUARTERS BASEMENT
A room of UNIFORMED NAZI OFFICERS argue around a
dimly-lit table. The tension is compelling. The fear palpable. A radio
broadcasts a Nazi sermon with accompanying “Sieg Heils.”
OFFICER #1
Turn the damn thing off!
Someone quickly
turns it off as an eerie silence fills the room – then the heated arguing
resumes.
OFFICER #2
The little corporal’s too big
now. There’s’ no stopping him.
OFFICER #3
We thought we could control him.
Now he’s leading us to war.
OFFICER #1
He’s eradicated all dissenters.
Made Germany a police state.
Subjugated the army! Hell, all
Germany’s under him now.
OFFICER #2
Maybe he is our savior! He
restored the economy. Eliminated
crime. We’re a world power again.
OFFICER #
Fool! It’s our ignorance and
fear that got us here. That
“little corporal” terrifies me!
Tempers flare
as the meeting breaks into disorder -
OFFICER # (O.S.)
Gentlemen! Gentlemen! We’re all
concerned and little terrified.
- until HANS
VON DOHNANYI, 35, a serious ideologue and their obvious leader intervenes,
calmly and calculatingly.
HANS
But a man who craves power like
he does won’t give it up easily.
We’ll have to seize it from him.
An
eerie silences fills the room as they realize what he means.
INT.
GESTAPO HEADQUARTERS INTERROGATION ROOM – NIGHT
Fritz (the
reluctant pastor from the church assembly) slumps behind a large, steel table,
the room lit by a single light bulb dangling over him on a string, revealing
his anxious face.
MAN (O.S.)
And you say you don’t know him?
FRITZ
Only slightly… I’ve heard of him.
Krieger (the
stoic officer from the Nazi rally) appears from the shadows, staring him down,
sensing he’s ready to break as
erratic cries
ring out from the next room which Krieger casually dismisses but Fritz
fearfully absorbs.
FRITZ
What are the charges against me?
KRIEGER
Charges? You’re not under arrest.
I
thought we would merely chat.
FRITZ
I’m simply a naive pastor from…
KRIEGER
Let
me save you some embarrassment.
Krieger
gently places two folders in from of him marked “CONFIDENTIAL – HIGH
PRIORITY.” More screams are heard as
Krieger, unaffected, leafs through the top, thinner folder.
KRIEGER
Herman Fritz. Humble country
background.
Classically educated.
Former student at Bonhoeffer’s
radical,
anti-Nationalist,
illegal seminary in Finkenwalde.
Krieger
closes the folder and picks up the second, much larger folder and opens it,
deeply concerned.
KRIEGER
Your crimes are those of youth
and
ignorance. Easily corrected.
It’s Bonhoeffer who concerns us.
The yelling
from the other room becomes violently loud then suddenly quiets. Krieger shakes his head, reflecting.
KRIEGER
Crusaders. All too eager to
Suffer
“for the cause.”
Still
one has to admire them.
Krieger
methodically paces the room as he studies the larger folder, disappearing into
the darkness.
KRIEGER
Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Born in
Breslau
1906. Father, Karl,
is
Germany’s top psychiatrist.
Mother, Paula, of privileged
birth.
Studied theology in
Berlin. First doctorate degree
at
age 21. Second at 24.
Krieger
reenters the light, impressed, letting Fritz know he knows everything – about
everything. He continues to read.
KRIEGER
Graduate
studies in New York.
Assistant professorship at the
University of Berlin. Pastored
in the Barcelona and Berlin. And
in two churches in London. Travels
to Sweden, North Africa, South
America. Published extensively.
Krieger
disappears again into the shadows.
KRIEGER
Sounds more like a pious saint…
FRITZ
He’s a man of honor and conviction…
Krieger
firmly pins him back into his seat, staring him down –
KRIEGER
… than a traitorous sinner.
- as he
recites the contents of the folder from memory.
KRIEGER
Negative broadcasts against the
Fuehrer.
Censored for writings
damaging
to the Reich. Banned from
teaching,
living, and working in
Berlin.
Incited anti-Reich church
elections.
Organized resistance
overseas.
Labeled a “pacifist”
and
“enemy of the state.”
Krieger
stands perplexed, equally enraged and impressed.
KRIEGER
A
rebel in robes. Quite the paradox.
Krieger
thinks deeply then stares quizzically at Fritz.
KRIEGER
Whom am I to believe then – the
saint
or the sinner? And what
do
I do with such a man?
FRITZ
I’d beware of him.
Krieger suddenly and violently knocks everything off the
table then gathers himself, upset at his loss of temper, and calmly leans into
Fritz, grabbing his collar, squeezing threateningly.
KRIEGER
Make
no mistake about it, pastor,
I can be your worst nightmare…
(then a coy smile)
…or
we could become friends.
Krieger
unruffles Fritz and eases him back into his seat while he stares him down
intensely, waiting for him to divulge all.
Fritz finally and reluctantly begins, remembering fondly.
FRITZ
He acted like one of us. We
all
knew he was very different.
A
visionary. A saint almost.
KRIEGER
Who is, nevertheless, a man and
a German. And I control both.
FRITZ
It doesn’t matter now. He’s gone
to
America on a lectureship.
KRIEGER
That’s very fortunate for him.
Krieger
smiles approvingly and pats Fritz on the back, knowing he’s broken him then
disappears into the darkness.
