View transcript: A Morning Broken Down Into Moments

Ein Vormittag zerlegt in Augenblicke

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10 to 11. TEN TO ELEVEN

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Berliner Ensemble is the theater where Bert Brecht worked until his death / A collective of writers and directors, among them Heiner Müller, manages the theater today / Gorbatschow never had enough time for the Perestroika / Now he visits the Berliner Ensemble / He is still in a hurry - -

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“A morning broken down into moments” / Mikhail Gorbachev at the Berliner Ensemble

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Bert Brecht, Collected Works, Vol. 17, page 1202 about Gorbachev:

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“He brought his people to the shore on the wreck of the law –”

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The arrival / The protocol

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Roloff-Momin, Senator of Culture in Berlin

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Heiner Müller, playwright

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Wim Wenders, movie director

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Mathias Langhoff

Speaker

… and here is the president of the Academy of the Arts, Heiner Müller, manager of the Berliner Ensemble, Mathias Langhoff, director and manager of the Berliner Ensemble, then in front of you Peter Palitzsch, one of the great students of Brecht, manager of the Berliner Ensemble, and director, and behind you is Mr. Marquardt, also manager of the Berliner Ensemble. One of them is in Italy …

Mikhail Gorbachev

[speaks Russian]

Speaker

… and behind you I’d like to introduce you to the official head of the theater, Ulrich Roloff-Monin.

Ulrich Roloff-Momin

Thank you so much for coming.

Speaker

So, and now we would like to start with the viewing … Wim Wenders is hurrying over to join us, the director, but you know him already – your director. May I also …

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Otto Sanders “The Angel from Wings of Desire”

Speaker

Yes please

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M. Gorbachev. President

Speaker

We owe him so much. We owe these two men so much. We are very happy to welcome you here at the Brecht theater … please, have a seat.

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First scenes from Wim Wenders’ new movie / Gorbachev as actor

Musik

Vincenzo Bellini, “The Brigands of Minsk”, Opera in 5 acts

Gorbachev via translator

… that the sequel won’t be worse than the first part.

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Bert Brecht, Collected works, Vol. 17, page 1016: “About innovations in opera”

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“The New still perches happily on the old bough, perhaps, but at least it has started (out of absent-mindedness or bad conscience) to saw it through … / And here you have the effect of the innovations and the song they sing / Real innovations attack the roots - - "

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Music: Vincenzo Bellini, “Beatrice di Tenda”, opera in 3 acts

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A Conversation about Culture (11:15 till 12:30)

Heiner Müller

… and for all those who have shown an interest in this theater. We would like to reintroduce it. One of them is Wim Wenders, for instance …

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Gorbachev as boy

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As law student

Müller

… May I present you with this relic of our house, the scarf … almost the entire staff signed their names …

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Can opera help? “Yes”

Can Bert Brecht help? “Yes”

Is Heiner Müller helping? “Yes”

Could Gorbachev help again? “Yes!!”

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“I escaped from the tigers I fed the bedbugs I was eaten up By the mediocrities”

Bert Brecht

Gorbachev via translator

What practical suggestions do you have, do you have any practical ideas?

Müller

Hm. A good, difficult question.

Translator

Is there going to be anything at all?

Müller

There is going to be a united academy of Berlin and Brandenburg that emanates from the former academies in East and West, so there is going to be one single academy …

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Gorbachev as young party secretary in the Caucasus

Müller

… and I think we can promise that people from, members of our academy will be able to come to Moscow, for example, to find out about the cultural aspects of your work … that maybe even someone on your side would be able to make contact with our academy and talk about what we do …

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“A day and a night are 1440 minutes - -”

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“A morning is a quarter of that - - "

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A human life about 36,000 days

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“Gorbachev ruled about 1824 days, that is 2,626,560 minutes - - "

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Clearing up a misunderstanding about 2 minutes

Gorbachev via translator

Of course they are concerned that contact has broken off [INAUDIBLE] the people in the cultural sector and the scientists [INAUDIBLE]

Raisa Gorbachova via translator

In November we were at the theater, at the Bolshoi theater, and we saw a new production. It’s a production about Caesar, and it’s about the assassination of Caesar, it’s about the betrayal, you know the story with Brutus, and then there’s the civil war, and the demise of all the 20 people who inflicted the stab wounds … and it’s not about …

Gorbachova via translator

I worked at the Cultural Forum for six years. This forum was founded during the first few months of the Perestroika, and its goal was to improve the cultural relations between the Soviet Union and the rest of the world, but this kind of cultural politics doesn’t exist anymore, and everyone experiences that and now everyone involved feels the collapse of this cultural area …

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“He brought his people to the shore / perched on the wreck of the law –”

Gorbachev via translator

We had a [INAUDIBLE] in our foundation, and we hope that we will be able to continue our cultural project from this point [INAUDIBLE] and hope that at a certain level [INAUDIBLE]

Müller

That’s absolutely true.

Gorbachev via translator

I can’t tell you more than this at this point.

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“Changing the course of life, as quick as changing a tire - - " Bert Brecht

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Goodbye

Speaker

There are a lot of connections. Wim Wenders is close friends with [INAUDIBLE]. Unfortunately we have to take our departure. The acting mayor is expecting you at the town hall … unfortunately we have to leave …

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" A morning broken down into moments - - "

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Camera: Walter Lenertz

Music

BEATRICE DI TENDA by Bellini

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10 to 11. TEN TO ELEVEN