Lola (1981)
Armin Mueller-Stahl: Von Bohm
Photos
Quotes
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Lola : Did you love your wife very much?
Von Bohm : I don't really know, perhaps. I came back from the war, and told myself: That's the woman I really love, otherwise I wouldn't have married her. But I didn't feel love. It was just... like the memory of love... Then she told me there was someone else, and for the first time since being back, I really felt something. Not love, but pain. I was thankful to my wife for teaching me how to feel again, even if it was pain.
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Esslin : I won't allow you to destroy yourself.
Von Bohm : You can't stop me. Would you stand in someone's way who has discovered the truth? The whole is rotten, not just parts, so the whole must be tackled.
Esslin : You'll just look ridiculous.
Von Bohm : Me? I'll make the rules of the game look ridiculous, the whole dishonest system. It scars people and warps them and makes them sick!
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Von Bohm : Do you come from East Prussia, if I may ask?
Lola's Mother : How did you know that?
Von Bohm : I probably should have told you when we first met: I have two secret weaknesses that will come to light sooner or later: People from East Prussia and tea from West Frisia.
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Editor : What goals could the ruling class be pursuing?
Von Bohm : The goal of getting rich.
Editor : But that's why contracts are signed.
Von Bohm : But at what cost? I'll tell you. At the cost of the poor. Those without rights. The exploited.
Editor : They get something out of it, too. If one person gets rich, the others get rich, too. Maybe not exactly rich, but they're not as poor as they were before. That's why we call our market economy a social one: because there's something in it for everyone. Those are the rules of the game. Understand?
Von Bohm : Yes, I understand. The rules of the game. That's what I told my advisor: that the rules of the game have be changed.
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Von Bohm : It's a splendid day today.
Fräulein Hettich : But it's drizzling!
Von Bohm : So? It's still a splendid day. A day is judged not by how it looks, but how one feels.
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Von Bohm : Giving Capital a helping hand isn't so easy. Hence the need for overtime.
Esslin : One man puts in overtime, while another puts profits in the bank. To each his own.
Von Bohm : That's what I always say. What about you? What does the humanist do after work?
Esslin : I'm member of a group against rearmament. Is that really of interest to you?
Von Bohm : Very much so. I'm always intrigued by fruitless passions.
Esslin : In another group we're studying Bakunin. He wrote a very interesting essay on land and property.
Von Bohm : Uh huh? And what was his conclusion?
Esslin : That the earth belongs to everyone, not just a few.
Von Bohm : I don't understand. It obviously belongs to just a few, not to everyone. Does he really mean it, or is it just wishful thinking on Mr. Bakunin's part?
Esslin : It's reality in a higher sense.
Von Bohm : Very good. I understand. That's why we complement each other so well: you're busy with reality in a higher sense, while I'm busy with reality in a lower sense.
Esslin : I dream, and you act. That's what you mean.
Von Bohm : You think, and I function. That's what you mean.
Esslin : And Schuckert profits! That's what I mean. With your permission, I'll be going now.
Von Bohm : Personally, I think it's good that there's one who dreams while all the others work. But you won't believe that.
Esslin : No.
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Lola's Mother : [a TV delivery man is installing a new TV] Did you order this?
Von Bohm : Yes. It's time we had a television.
Von Bohm : Look! A broadcast!
[actually, there's only a test pattern on the screen]
TV delivery man : That's not a broadcast. That's just the test pattern. The broadcast doesn't start until 8:00.
Von Bohm : The broadcast doesn't start until 8:00... and what kind of broadcast is that?
[pointing at the test pattern on the TV screen]
TV delivery man : I just told you. It's not a broadcast. It's a test pattern. And I don't know what's on tonight.
Von Bohm : Isn't that amazing? That's just a test pattern, but at 8:00 there's a broadcast, and then you find out what's on. What's that for?
[pointing to the side of the TV]
TV delivery man : You can forget that for now. That's only if there's a second channel. But for right now there's only one. That would be for others. You could choose the one you liked best. In theory, like I said.
Von Bohm : What do you think of that? There might even be a second channel soon.
