♪ ♪
[both panting]
- [Hitler] I want water. - [Jonah] Shut the fuck up.
[Hitler] You know my men will find us.
And when they do,
I will bury you out here in the desert.
Turn you into a ghost.
- [panting] - [Jonah] I used to think
there was no such thing as ghosts.
Then I heard a story.
An old story.
It goes like this:
[woman speaking German] Once upon a time there was a man...
...who told a story about a man...
...who told a story about...
...a house.
[birds chirping]
♪ ♪
[sighs]
[ticking]
How about a joke?
An old man sits in a chair telling a joke.
[laughing]
It's a German joke.
- [Helga] Were you calling me? - Huh?
♪ ♪
What did you say?
I... I didn't say anything.
Oh.
I... thought I heard something.
[clattering nearby]
Oh. I... I was telling a joke.
[laughing]
No one wants to hear your jokes.
Isn't that right, hmm? [chuckles]
Ooh. Huh.
It's snowing.
Huh.
Marlene was my favorite.
I used to use a hairbrush as a microphone
and pretend I was in a... a cabaret, you know? [chuckles]
♪ Ich bin die fesche Lola, der Liebling der Saison ♪♪
Then you.
- [humming to the tune] - [clanging]
Then me.
[Heinrich] Then, you affix the fourth wall
with just a little bit of glue, hmm?
Then, I put on the roof
- like so. - [clanging]
As long as it's even, it creates the illusion.
[chuckles] Voilà!
[Helga] Hon, it's time.
[insects trilling]
[crackling]
[classical music plays on radio]
[old man] How many, dear?
- Seven. - [whispers] Ah, seven.
One, two, three, four,
-five, six, seven. - [♪ Havard Gimse: "13 Pieces, Op. 76: No. 3. Carillon"]
[exhales] Safe.
- [chuckling] - [clicks lips]
- Snake eyes. - Oh.
Oh! [groans]
Rats!
Rats. [laughing]
Rats! [laughing]
[Heinrich sighs]
My darling.
My love.
[both] Your turn.
[truck approaches]
[turns radio off]
[engine shuts off]
Father's home.
[birds calling]
♪ ♪
Hugo.
It's just a fucking snail.
[knocking on door]
Yeah?
[clicks tongue] Ah. Herr Hansöm?
It's an honor to meet you, sir.
My name is Hauptsturmführer Halden.
This is Obersturmführer Luntz.
And this here is Untersturmführer Grimmark.
We are sorry to intrude like this unannounced,
but may we come in?
I'm sorry, but... but I'm having trouble hearing.
Why don't you boys just come inside?
[radio playing softly]
- Smells like flowers. - Mm-hmm.
The smell of flowers makes me have to shit.
Quiet.
Come. Come, come. Hmm?
Come sit.
Darling?
[Helga] Hon?
Some boys are here to see us.
Ah. Coming.
Please, sit.
[music playing on radio]
[Helga] Hello.
- [Ernst] Hallo. - [Helga chuckles]
[sighs]
Herr Hansöm. Frau Hansöm.
It's a privilege to meet you both.
- What did you say, son? - What did you say, dear?
- I said, "What did he say?" - I didn't say anything.
I said it's a privilege to meet you, sir.
You have designed halls and castles for the Reich
worthy of God himself.
May they live on forever, as may our Führer.
Sieg Heil.
When did you move in here, Herr Hansöm?
Move in? We built it ourselves.
We gave life to this house. We birthed it. [chuckling]
- 30 years ago. - 29 years ago.
It was 30, Helga.
30, 29, 30, 29.
- ♪ 30, 29, 30, 29 ♪ - [cuckoo clocks whistling]
- Oh! - [both] ♪ 30, 29, 30, 29 ♪
♪ 30, 29, 30, 29, 30, 29 ♪♪
[both laughing]
- Ooh! - [both chuckling]
[laughing]
Ah, wunderbar.
Herr Hansöm, this is an uncomfortable inquiry
for both you and Frau Hansöm.
But I am sure it's a mix-up of some kind. [chuckling]
But ask it still I must.
We received a tip to our intelligence service,
and I must ask as delicately and respectfully as I can...
...is there anyone else hiding in your home?
♪ ♪
No, uh...
- Darling, wait... - I must.
We cannot lie.
[exhaling slowly]
We are harboring others in this house.
Can they hear us right now?
I believe they can.
How many of them are there?
Oh, it's hard to tell.
What's hard about it?
- They come and they go. - Hmm.
Where are they now?
Oh, in the walls.
Beneath the floorboards.
[floorboards creak]
In the ceiling.
How long have they been here for?
- 30 years. - 29.
But... the war started only four years ago.
Well, what does the war have to do with them?
What doesn't the war have to do with the Jews?
Jews?
[both laughing]
There are no Jews in this house.
Then who on Earth is "in the walls,
beneath the floorboards, and in the ceiling"?
Oh...
Ghosts, dear.
There are ghosts in this house.
We hear them every night.
Whispering strange melodies.
- Laughing at strange jokes. - [chuckles]
[Ernst] Herr Hansöm, my colleagues
and I are not in the business of apparitions.
We are in the business of Jew hunting.
Judenjagd.
And the information we received
is that there may be Jews hiding in this home.
What did he say, dear?
Jews.
Jews? Here?
We would need an exterminator.
[Heinrich] Son,
if you think some Jews might have gotten in,
by all means,
get them out.
Oh, ja.
With all respect, sir, we are here to investigate
whether a more active participation
transpired.
A Frau Olga Hiddenbrau claimed Helga Hansöm
picked up from the market three whole ducks.
That's a lot of birds for just two people.
♪ ♪
Yes, of course.
Quack, quack, quack. [laughs]
I seldom leave this house,
but when I do, I buy extra and freeze them in the ice box.
[clicks tongue] Well.
[sighs] Do you mind if we have a... a look around?
- Oh! - [both] Be our guest.
Keep famed Herr Hansöm
and fair Frau Hansöm company, would you?
♪ ♪
[clocks ticking]
♪ ♪
[sniffs deeply]
You know, I, uh...
[chuckles] I studied to be an architect.
Did you now?
I studied you to be an architect.
It's never too late to follow your heart.
[exhales]
[creaking]
[sniffing]
[heavy creaking]
[sniffing]
[groaning, pooping]
Shit.
[sighs]
♪ ♪
[sighs]
[knocking]
♪ ♪
- [clock chimes] - [cuckoo clock chirps]
[Hugo] Do you have grandchildren?
[Heinrich] What did you say?
[Hugo] Do you have grandchildren?
[Helga] Oh, no, dear.
[Hugo] Do you have children?
Uh...
[sighs] We had a child. Once.
[stammering] I-I built him this beautiful crib.
I... I... I carved it myself.
Carved these little animals into the wood.
Lions and... bears.
And sheep.
- Remember, Heinrich? - [soft laugh]
So Hugo would sleep.
- [Heinrich] Ah. - Hugo?
That's my name.
[both] Is it?
[gasping] Oh, it's a lovely name.
For a lovely boy.
[Heinrich stammering] I designed it so
it would rock ever so slightly.
So he would feel like he was still in the womb.
[Helga exhales]
But...
But he got big.
As boys do.
And he climbed up one night.
As boys do.
And, uh...
...he fell back and...
...and broke his neck.
[Helga sniffles]
- [Heinrich] Helga, he didn't fall. - [Helga moans]
- The wood broke. - Oh.
From his weight.
It, it wasn't sturdy enough.
It was a flaw.
- In the design. - [Helga sobbing]
In... my design.
His crib became his coffin.
[sobbing]
[Helga crying] We found him the next morning.
Hugo looked peaceful, Hugo.
The... the crib rocking.
Still rocking.
I... don't know if Helga and I were ever
meant to have children.
[sighs, whimpers]
I don't know if we were capable of looking after them.
I'm so sorry.
- That's very kind. - [sniffles]
But... [laughing]
There's... there's nothing to be sorry about.
No.
He's still here, Hugo.
It's his ghost. His ghost among them.
[giggling]
[faint creaking]
♪ ♪
[panting]
[electricity buzzes]
[chuckles]
[growling]
[grunting, panting]
[groaning]
[moaning]
[muffled yelling]
[laughing]
Heinrich tells the funniest jokes.
[muffled scream]
[swing music plays on radio]
Did you... hear that?
Ja. I love swing.
[turns volume up]
[laughing, whooping]
Come on.
Come, come.
- [Heinrich and Helga laughing] - ♪ ♪
[radio playing nearby]
♪ ♪
Juden.
[grunting, gagging]
[clinking]
[squelching]
♪ ♪
[Helga humming]
[gagging]
[gunshot]
Turn it off!
[turns music off]
[clocks ticking]
- [Hugo] Did you hear that? - [Heinrich] Hear what?
[squelching]
- [Hugo] I must be hearing things. - [Helga gasping]
We have heard so many things in this house, Hugo.
[labored breathing]
- It's quite a house. - Uh-huh.
My parents never wished for me to be an architect.
They thought it an idle art.
And to be fair, I wasn't an inventive person.
I could only copy what was there before.
Poach from the masters.
So, when the SS called, I joined.
But I used my failings in design to forge a new path.
- [footsteps] - A new career.
A new art.
People think that the key to catching Jews
is to think as a Jew thinks.
But no.
It is to think as an architect thinks.
To think as a barn, or a school, or a home thinks.
Where could I, a home, hide a Jew?
[clocks ticking]
♪ ♪
[muffled whimpering]
[birds singing outside]
[Hugo] Interesting.
[laughs] This is a beautiful house you've built.
From the outside it's so large.
But inside...
...feels smaller.
Much smaller.
[Heinrich] Does it?
Just a trick of the eye.
Forced perspective.
My eye doesn't play tricks.
Does yours play tricks?
On me?
[clocks ticking]
And, oddest of all,
this wall...
...this wood...
...hasn't aged like the others.
In fact...
[muffled whimper]
[cooing softly]
It feels just a few years old.
[baby cooing softly]
A recent renovation.
At my age, son? [laughing]
Heinrich can hardly renovate his model homes
with his arthritis. [chuckles]
It doesn't make sense, sir.
I eyed a rear retaining wall
of 15 meters and yet here, I eye only 12.
As we danced, I measured.
Each step, one meter.
All this from a failed architect.
What are you hiding?
What is behind this wall?
- [cries softly] - [shushes quietly]
Nothing. Only ghosts.
Ghosts rule this home.
They... they haunt these walls.
- Oh, Heinrich. - It's okay, Helga.
[Hugo] You were my hero.
- How could you betray the Reich by hiding Jews? - [quiet crying]
Why would I hide Jews?
The Reich's chief architect?
I build towers and tombs, palaces and prisons
for the Führer.
Structures of death.
Where murder and war plot and rest and live.
Perhaps you saw what your creations
were used for, and once, just once,
you wished for one coffin you built to instead be a crib.
[shallow breathing]
At my old age?
My heart should turn from its allegiance?
My conscience should... should swing
like... like a weather vane?
The poles of me reverse in my 80th year?
"It's never too late to follow your heart."
- [gun clicks] - [Helga moans] Heinrich...
It will be okay, Helga.
Hugo is not a killer.
[groans, yells]
Ernst, Matthias!
[Heinrich] There is nothing behind that wall.
[fussing softly]
[Heinrich] Only ghosts.
Only Hugo.
Ernst, Matthias, get down here!
Son, please. What are you doing?
What is behind this wall? Tell me what's behind
this wall or I will shoot!
I swear, there is nothing!
He is telling the truth. [sobs]
[shaky breathing]
[crying]
I...
I'm sorry.
I...
[baby wails]
[clocks ticking]
The ghosts...
[Helga] No!
[Heinrich] Hurry, Helga!
- Here, Maman. - [shushing]
[gasps]
[gunshots]
- [gunshot] - [screams]
[clocks ticking loudly]
[shouting]
Ah! [grunting]
[groaning]
[Heinrich yells]
[Helga grunts]
- [Helga screams] - [groaning]
[Helga grunts]
- [swing music playing] - Mother's home.
[grunts]
[insects chirping]
[birds singing]
♪ ♪
A German man sits in a chair telling a joke.
It is funny.
[all laughing]
♪ Ich bin die fesche Lola, der Liebling der Saison ♪
Then you.
♪ Ich hab' ein Pianola zu Haus' in mein' Salon ♪
Then me.
♪ Ich bin die fesche Lola, der Liebling der Saison ♪
♪ Ich bin die fesche Lola, mich liebt ein jeder Mann ♪♪
Ah! [hums, laughs]
♪ ♪
Then you take two fingers
and... move to the trap in the wall, huh.
Like so.
Ah. Ha!
It will take them by total surprise.
[sighs]
Voilà.
Yes. [chuckles]
Remember, Zev, we build these things not because we want to
but because we must.
Okay, my boy?
Okay.
- [Helga] Lucky number nine. - [Heinrich chuckles]
[Helga mutters]
Ah!
[Heinrich chuckles]
Your turn, Zev.
- Seven. - [Heinrich gasps]
- [Helga] Ooh. - Seven.
- One, two, three... - Eins, zwei, drei...
- four, five, six... - vier, fünf, sechs,
seven.
[gasps]
- [groans] - Rats!
[laughing]
Better luck next time, my boy.
[laughing]
[vehicle approaching]
[swing music playing on radio]
[Helga] Quick, Heinrich.
Father's home.
[baby crying softly]
[chuckles]
♪ ♪
[knocking on door]
- [Heinrich] Ja? - [Anders] Ah, Herr Hansöm.
It's an honor to meet you, sir.
I'm Hauptsturmführer Nabor. This is Obersturmführer Kritz.
And this is Untersturmführer Rigard.
We are coming in.
Come.
[panting]
[Helga] Would you boys like some tea?
[slurping]
Now, what can we do for you boys?
Herr Hansöm, do you remember meeting
Hauptsturmführer Halden, Obersturmführer Luntz,
and Untersturmführer Grimmark one week ago?
Who is that now?
[Anders] They are from our Judenjäger unit.
On Monday, May 4th, they left their last home visit
to come here.
They were then scheduled
to arrive at an apartment in Leipzig,
but they never made it.
[Gert] Our Juden unit likes to give windows of their arrival.
9:00 to 3:00, 12:00 to 6:00.
People grow quite frustrated
when they're promised a delivery time and it's not met.
And the fellow who called in
the tip at the apartment in Leipzig,
he said they didn't arrive all day.
And they never made it back to the barracks.
Do you remember seeing them here?
Uh, who, son?
The Judenjäger unit.
You boys are looking for mangy Jews?
No.
We are the Missing Persons Unit.
We're looking for the unit who looks for mangy Jews.
But, yes, we also kill Jews.
[laughing]
[baby crying]
[laughing]
Ja, ja, ja, ja. Some boys came by.
Very kind boys.
Very handsome lads. [chuckles]
They searched for about, mm, 30 minutes
and then they went on their way.
You know what time that was?
Oh, I believe it was at 4:00.
No, I think it was 4:30, dear.
Because Frau Zinkenfeller's Four-o-clock Frolic
was just ending on the radio.
- I'd say 4:00. - 4:30.
- 4:00. - 4:30.
[both] ♪ 4:00, 4:30, 4:00, 4:30, 4:00, 4:30 ♪
♪ 4:00, 4:30, 4:00, 4:30 ♪♪
[both laughing]
Herr Hansöm, Frau Hansöm, do you mind if we look around?
[both] Oh, be our guest.
[sighs]
[chuckles]
[sighs]
[chuckles]
♪ ♪
[light clattering]
♪ ♪
[light clattering]
[chuckling] I like your house.
Huh. Thank you.
- We do, too. Mm-hmm. - Mm-hmm.
I could see myself living here.
Oh... [chuckling] Yes.
[Helga sighs]
We are sorry to have wasted your time.
Thank you for opening your home to us.
[sighs] Of course.
I-I hope you find those boys.
Obersturmführer Kritz,
Untersturmführer Rigard, time to go.
Thank you, Herr Hansöm,
we are sorry to have troubled you.
[gunshot]
[screaming]
What the fuck?!
- What the fuck?! - Oh, shit.
I like the house.
[Gert] What the fuck?
[gasps]
You shot them!
[Gert] What the fuck is wrong with you?
We couldn't go back empty-handed.
They would have had my title,
they would have had your job, Gert,
and they would have had your head, Anders.
So, we make up a story that this couple was hiding a few Jews
and did kill the three missing SS officers
that caught on to them.
When we arrived, we found the Jews,
murdered them, then murdered these senile old Jew lovers,
and buried them all in the backyard.
Avenging our brethren and returning order to this town.
Then I get to keep the house,
which I'll move into in one week's time,
you get to keep your job,
and you, Anders, get to keep your head.
But they weren't hiding any fucking Jews.
And they didn't kill the three SS officers.
- So what? - So what?
This is Heinrich Hansöm!
[Tomas] This is a Heinrich Hansöm house.
[laughing] Well.
Even more reason.
Can you imagine the resale value?
Tomas is right.
What?
The three of them have been missing for a week.
SS officers don't go missing.
If we came back empty-handed, they would have had our heads.
You are a fucking psychopath.
Bury the bodies in the back garden.
[sighs]
[clicks tongue]
[sighing] Hmm.
I'm going to put in a pool.
[Zev hyperventilating]
[others crying]
[muffled screaming]
[muffled crying]
- [engine shuts off] - [music playing on radio]
[Tomas speaking German] Ladies and gentlemen, I present...
...the house!
I found you. I got you. I do!
Oh, Friedrich, don't run.
Oh, I beg you.
[chuckling] Oh, come on, he's just having fun.
[sighs]
- Shall we go inside? - Yes.
[insects chirping]
- [wood creaking] - [Liesel] Oh, Tomas. - [Tomas] Ah!
- [Liesel] I love my new house. - [Tomas] Ja!
[both moaning]
[Liesel] Oh, yes.
[speaks Yiddish] Devils!
[Tomas] I'm gonna put in a pool.
[Liesel] Oh, it's so big.
Oh, it's so huge!
[Tomas] This duck is delicious, my love.
[Friedrich] It tastes weird.
[Liesel] Friedrich, you are going to eat it.
[Friedrich] Ew, I don't want duck.
- [Liesel] You can't let it go to waste. - [Tomas] Fine, sweetheart.
- We'll give you applesauce instead. - Tomas!
[Liesel] And in the dark woods the king and queen
and their little prince found
the most beautiful castle of all.
It was old and special and fit for heroes like them,
and in that castle they found great happiness.
[clocks ticking]
[speaking Yiddish] I told you we should've left...
...when we had the chance.
And go where?
We are three kilometers from the SS outpost.
You don't think they'd find us?
New family, new food.
We take only what we need.
[sighs] Okay. It's time, Zev.
Okay.
[panting quietly]
[snoring]
- ♪ ♪ - [door creaks]
[urinating]
[toilet flushing]
[sighs]
[Liesel snoring]
[Tomas groaning]
[clocks ticking]
[gasps]
[muffled screaming]
Don't scream, boy, or I'll kill your fucking family.
Quick.
[muffled screaming continues]
Shh.
[whispering] What is he doing here?
[whispering] He saw Zev.
How could you be so careless?
It wasn't the boy's fault.
What do we do with him?
If we keep him here, he will get us all killed.
[Rivka shuddering]
[muffled grunts]
[whispering] We can't do that.
We don't do that.
[speaking Yiddish] I have a better way.
- [door opens] - [Liesel] Friedrich.
[singsongy] Friedrich.
Friedrich, where are you?!
[running footsteps]
Tomas, Tomas, where's Friedrich?!
[Tomas] What do you mean "where's Friedrich"?
[Liesel] He's not in his bed. Is he with you?
[Tomas] No.
- [Liesel] Friedrich? - [Tomas] Friedrich?
[Liesel] Friedrich, where are you?
[Tomas] Friedrich!
- [Tomas] Friedrich! - [Liesel] Friedrich?
- [Tomas] Friedrich! - [Liesel] Friedrich!
[Tomas] Come on, boy, where are you?
- [Liesel] Where are you?! - [Tomas] Where are you?
- Friedrich! - [Liesel] Friedrich!
- [Tomas] Friedrich! - [Liesel] Friedrich!
- [Zev] Papa? - [both gasping]
Mama!
- Help! - [Tomas] Friedrich? - [Liesel] Friedrich!
[Tomas] Friedrich, where are you?
[Zev] [screams] They took me!
- [Liesel] Who took you? - [Zev] The Hansöms!
It's because of what you did, Papa.
What is he talking about?
[crying] Friedrich, where the fuck are you?!
[Liesel] Friedrich...
My sweetheart, where are you?
[Zev] Closer! Closer!
- Friedrich! - Talk to Mommy!
- Where are you?! - Friedrich!
[grunts]
[Liesel] Tomas!
Tomas.
[clocks ticking]
♪ ♪
[laughing]
♪ ♪
Shabbat shalom.
[Zev] I miss the Hansöms so much.
[Rivka] I think they would be so happy we have their house.
I'd say we have two days
before they start looking for the SS officer and his family.
We need to get the house ready, just in case.
I'll do it. He taught me how.
[♪ Vivaldi: "Concerto for Two Violins in A Minor"]
Like that.
Brilliant.
This should do it.
Give me the rope.
♪ ♪
[Rivka] We have to convince the commandant we're the Rigards.
Remember, let me do the talking.
If he asks you a question, let me answer for you.
If he believes us, we get to keep the house.
Okay.
Father's home.
[footsteps approach]
[knocking on door]
[sighs]
Thank you for coming.
I didn't know who else to call.
You...
[shudders]
...did the right thing.
Hauptsturmführer Reinold.
Can I come in?
[chuckles] Of course.
[♪ Strauss: "Frühlingsstimmen"]
I made it extra sweet.
I... discovered he had been having an affair.
And that he was a coward.
[muffled yelling]
That he was afraid the Reich was going to lose
to the godforsaken Americans.
And so he took off.
For where?
He didn't say.
He didn't even kiss the child goodbye.
Isn't that right, Friedrich?
[Zev] Ja.
Well, Frau Rigard.
We will no doubt look for your husband,
the coward.
[muffled screaming]
You did the right thing to call us.
Heil Hitler.
Sieg Heil.
Ah! [groans]
[Friedrich panting]
Get back here.
[roof creaking]
[Rivka] This old house has ghosts.
Let me show you out.
[Reinold] Stay strong, boy.
[Rivka] Thank you again for coming.
I'm a good man, Frau Rigard.
I've been very lonely since my wife died of tuberculosis.
Oh, Hauptsturmführer Reinold...
I know this is all quite sudden,
but clearly Herr Rigard doesn't deserve you.
And I was thinking, sitting here,
that perhaps we could make each other's lives
a little less lonely.
- [Friedrich grunts] - [Abraham] Get back here.
[grunting]
- Ah! - My father was no coward.
- [Reinold] Stop. - Shit.
- [Reinold] Jew! - No!
[♪ Vivaldi: "Summer" from The Four Seasons]
Shit.
Rivka!
[gunshots]
[groans]
[clamoring]
It's time!
[indistinct shouting]
♪ ♪
[gears turning]
Check under the bed.
[clamoring]
- [blast] - [screams]
[Nazi] Up here! They're getting away!
[click]
Shit. Aah!
Zev! Zev! Zev!
Go. Now.
You built something beautiful
with your own hands and your own mind.
He would have been very proud.
Now go, take the children and go.
Go out the back and run into those woods. Go.
Go, go. Go.
[shouting]
♪ ♪
[panting]
[panting] It's true.
I think we're ghosts.
I think this is a ghost story.
[hyperventilating]
♪ ♪
Wait, wait.
- [Hitler] No one is coming. - Shut the fuck up.
My people... will find us.
♪ ♪
Come.
[Jonah] Come on.
When you made us ghosts, you taught us how to be...
invisible.
[shouting in German] This is crazy!
Crazy!
This is crazy!
Crazy!
[grunts]
Did she know?
Did Chava know that you got him?
It's because of her that we did.
[breathing heavily]
Thank you, Zev.
Thank you.
[engine starts]
[exhales]
♪ ♪