One Room Tenants (1960) - full transcript
The lives of several one room tenants in Warsaw's Old Town. All the young roommates - a poet, a student, a writer, a left-wing activist - have to face difficulties in finding a place for themselves in early 1930s reality.
"KAMERA"
PRODUCTION TEAM
PRESENTS
ONE ROOM TENANTS
BASED ON A NOVEL
It is at the end of the world,
and every cop knows that.
Black as a gramophone record,
The same song
over and over again:
Sark street, Sark street,
Disaster street.
Love unties, like a knot
Glory comes, sooner or later
But once that street
enchants you
Like emerald you"ll fall,
right to the bottom
Sark street, Sark street.
A desperate street,
my lords.
On Sark, by skies and music
the Muses lived,
And you, my Euridice,
But wind has swept you away...
So I set my hurdy gurdy,
Black blood run
through my throat
And off I went,
Into a boring chant:
Bring back my Euridice!
Round goes beloved crank.
And if you swear, I don"t care.
Same right to love -
Orpheus or a street player.
Sark street, Sark street.
Street in the rain,
street at an angle.
Sark street, Sark street.
I"ll show you what a street...
Am I to slave for you?
Get a servant, princess!
Get a servant yourself!
Baroness!
- Will you sweep?
- Who did yesterday?
- See the broom?
- Get your broom off!
What did you want,
a wedding vale?
Salis, how are you?
Happy to see you!
Sit down.
How"s your health?
Better?
Mother says you can live here.
It"s no luxury...
My health is not either.
You know,
I crave writing.
I have something friendly
to tell the world.
There are worse places,
people struggle with their lives.
But there"s wide skies,
sun shines.
There"s no window,
through which
sun wouldn"t shine.
Even just a flicker.
One has to stick to sun beams.
- Coffee?
- No, thanks.
Have you seen my book?
Why all the bottles and papers?
Draughtsmen lived here.
The new one draws as well.
"Time moves along, never to stop,
Time is a fear of every clock."
What"s that?
It won"t stir until
you say the rhyme.
Maybe it"s ambitious,
maybe just childish.
Who"s singing?
Fur cutter. He sings
on nice mornings.
- You like it?
- I like he sings when it"s nice.
That"s the yard, that"s the street,
that"s the sky
and that"s the voice.
Zygmunt?
Don"t you feel this street
looks like it"s in an Eastern city?
With a bit of imagination...
It can be the East, or Champs Elysees,
or a forest road...
Imagination is a liar.
I"m fed up with it all,
with all fantasies...
You get it.
- Morning.
- Morning.
- Meet my mum.
- Stukonis.
Let"s talk money: how much
should I pay you?
How much
can you pay?
You tell me.
Breakfast included.
Well...
25 for the rent,
- ...and 5 for light.
- Here you are.
- Put it here.
- Right away.
Very well.
We"ll live together,
we"ll talk.
Let"s go for a walk.
There"s a Jewish bar
round the corner,
it may be open.
- Balm vodka lights up the mind
- ...and with Vermouth helps to think.
One of each, then.
Great. I like you, Salis.
Pour on.
There.
Great for the stomach.
- Shall we sit?
- Get the Vermouth down first.
- Get the liver, I"ll take the fish...
- One each...
- Shame Dziadzia isn"t here.
- Shame. Two more.
He left suddenly, mysteriously,
as usual.
-There.
- It is more by glasses.
- Let"s get the bottle.
- One bottle, please!
I feel great,
we feel great...
Stick to the sun beams.
- Easier to stick to a bottle.
- With a bonus.
I don"t want to give in!
- What?
- We"re falling down.
War, tragic generation, etc.
Maybe we lack talent
and create myths?
I have something to say,
I have to!
Go on, then.
Europe"s listening.
We"re in a gutter, so we try to prove
the whole world is one.
We have to get out of it.
But how?
How?
Clinging to the sun beams.
We dream of a great,
beautiful love, and then
go with the first whore...
It doesn"t happen only to love.
Cling to the sun beams!
-Too long for a title.
- It"s not a title. Let"s drink.
- What is it?
- A letter to you.
"What will become of us?
We"re weights at God"s feet."
We"re paying!
And going straight home.
I"ve a review to write.
Hear that, people?
A review!
Home.
A brothel where our lair is.
A rum for the road?
A bottle with a long neck?
1 2 zlotys?
- 1 2 zlotys.
-Thank you.
Come on.
You"re drunk.
You"ve stronger head
than Zygmunt.
I got energy staying
in the mountains.
Bednarczyk is back!
- Will you study again?
- Yes.
New lodgers?
I trust I won"t
disturb you here.
Pay no attention,
he"s a fool.
Who is he?
Good guy, studies law.
Back from the army.
He was mad. Drank pints of tea
and took his temperature.
- Did he get better?
- Who"s laughing?
A woman in panties,
figuratively speaking.
Au revoir.
I"m sleepy.
Tomorrow: hangover.
So how was it?
Not bad.
I was a corporal.
Then I did desk work.
It was good.
Army got rid of
germs from my system.
I"m cured.
Barracks, exercise...
- Morning.
- Morning.
He was putting posters up again.
Look, his hands are
covered in paint!
Leave it, mum,
let me sleep.
Mieciek, get up.
Breakfast.
They"ll get you!
They"ll get him,
you"ll see.
Mister Jozik, you"ve eaten
all crackling again!
Drop that comb!
What did you use before?
...Fuss about a comb!
Mrs. Stukonis,
what"s for breakfast?
Mocca and Spanish cake.
Always the same trouble.
Will you stop getting in the way?
Put it away for a moment.
I want to fry the eggs.
I"m in a hurry!
You"ll do that later.
OK, OK.
Breakfast!
I"ve an exam soon
and he"s whistling!
"The Internationale".
Stop! I have to learn!
Learn what you want,
you won"t pass anyway.
Mrs. Stukonis,
a student is being offended!
Mieciek, Mieciek,
be nice, or else!
What are you up to?
Another demo?
If they"d kill you,
you"d stop going.
Mum, I"m in no mood
for ideological discussions.
Coffee"s getting cold.
Go away!
Mister Joziek, he"s pinching me.
I"ll bruise!
Once I get a job
I"m moving out.
Nice girl.
Teodozja?
She teases Mietek
and then complains.
I"d set him straight,
but I"ve an exam.
Don"t want to get upset.
- Where are the glasses?
- On the stove.
Leave it, I"ll pour
it for you.
Thank you.
Why are you
looking at me?
Just looking.
Well...
How are you, old bum?
- Horrible.
- I"m grand.
Miss Todzia...
You like blonds or brunets?
Neither. Blond men,
perhaps...?
If a brunet put a wig on
and took it off in bed...
would you be upset?
A poet and speaks
nonsense!
I"m sorry: not in bed.
On a sofa.
Shall we go to "Mala"?
Too early yet...
- Excuse me.
- No problem.
- Who are they?
-Teodozja is studying
and Felicja
is in love with Jozef.
Mr. Jozef blushed.
On my back!
How funny.
Felicja works in a meat shop.
Sophisticated crowd.
What a weird life.
Women and poets
like to get up late.
And do nothing.
Your efforts and intelligence
go towards gaining a few zlotys.
In a few years you swim or...
bite the dust. Either - or.
- Stupid talk.
- Stupid talk.
Let"s go to "Mala".
I don"t feel like it.
I feel like writing.
- When will you be back?
- About 4 p.m. Bye.
Salis! Come if you make up
your mind.
Yes?
Where did you
come from?
Peasant"s family
and the 4th year of medicine.
Thank you kindly.
I wanted to know
why you were behind me.
I thought
"we"ll live together"
- and I stood there.
- Right.
My name"s Lucjan Salis.
An intellectual, right?
Not all writers are.
You"re sitting, thinking.
- Can I...?
- Go ahead.
I"ll tell you a funny, erotic story.
You"re bound to use it.
- About a year ago...
- Excuse me...
Why have you come now?
Holidays start soon.
I have an exam.
Listen to my story!
About a year ago
a girl from our village
started a sexual relationship
with a miller"s son.
She was innocent
and remained so.
What do you say to that?
Go away.
You tell me an idiotic story
and laugh at it yourself.
- What do you specialise in?
- Psychiatry.
Can you tell me,
if it"s true that
"you can tell a fool
by his laugher"?
- Get out of here!
- Why shout at her?
- She"s my sister, I look after her.
- I didn"t know.
Why shout at
people you look after?
She looked inside and smiled.
The other one
"looked and smiled", too.
I"m sorry, I have to go now.
Wait. The miller"s son...
Sorry.
Filth.
It"s all filth.
Another one killed himself
for her?
They do that, but
cannot be identified later.
If only they really
did it...
Poems wouldn"t have
to be paid for,
the world would be freed
of poor writers.
- Haven"t you got a zloty...?
- I haven"t, indeed.
Where did you
come from?
-Tell us about your trip.
- Well, my dears,
it"s hard to tell.
It was good.
I lived through more
than in one"s lifetime.
Believe you me,
it"s better out there.
Different.
Water
and sky. Honestly.
Cardiff, Casablanca, Barcelona
and Naples.
Different faces,
experiences...
- ...languages.
-They saw you in Radom.
All roads to the world
go through Radom.
We drank Vermouth from barrels,
through rubber pipes.
In Casablanca
and everywhere.
- I saw open seas...
- Of vodka.
You"re so boring!
Drinking coffee you don"t like,
pretending to be mature.
You just sit here.
Your poetry is rubbish!
Learn to think straight,
and to behave, too.
Apparently,
you"re the "promising" one.
Don"t go promising
too long.
Hi, gentlemen.
That"s just another kind
of a pose.
This one is really sad,
he believes
he"s on a mission.
He ought to get a slap.
Yup.
- Salis, how are you?
- Getting there.
And looking great.
Zygmunt, how"s life?
Disgusting.
I want to be a secretary
to a regional president.
We"re drinking,
bored out our brains,
- they"re so barren it"s scary.
- You"ll see for yourself.
- She"s looking at you.
- Who?
Plugged up again.
-The mermaid smelled the sea.
- She"s like the weather.
You talk about her
when there"s no other subject.
Take me away, for Lord"s sake,
I don"t want to talk to her.
- What"s going on?
- Don"t ask.
- So, what"s the news?
- Nothing much.
I walk in the park,
look at the pond.
- I like water in the evenings.
- I"m sorry, I have to go.
Miss?
Yes?
You"re walking alone, I walk alone,
and I thought...
Well?
Why can"t we
walk together?
Most original.
- A poet, are you?
- I"m into prose.
I"m so happy to talk to you.
I dreamt about it.
I could fall
in love with you.
That"s very poetic
for a prose writer.
- What"s your name?
- Lucjan.
Nice.
It"s nice that such
a cute boy could love me,
but I"m in a hurry.
I have to say good bye.
And please, tell Dziadzia
to call me.
Good bye.
Why did I say that?
I don"t even like her.
Did you sleep?
May I sit here?
Is it raining?
No.
- It is.
- No.
No.
Don"t be angry.
I"m not.
Go, open it.
Somebody"s knocking.
I came for your tenancy
registration slip.
New lodgers come
all the time...
We"re spinsters. We"ve prayed
and God remembers us.
We have a room,
60 zlotys a month
and a church nearby.
Have you filled it?
Give me the slip.
Mister student!
I"m leaving!
I"m leaving tonight!
Secretary to the president.
I"m pleased,
but not too much.
- We"ll have a party.
- Sorry, I don"t feel like it.
You"ll drink, I"ll pass.
I can"t.
Don"t you want to spend
the last night with a friend?
As you wish.
Wait, I"ll get ready.
Miss Leopard wants
you to phone her.
- What for?
- How should I know?
Lucjan Salis
I"ll tell you:
I was mad about her,
and she...
ignored me.
She liked fame.
She went for
a more popular guy.
I was so crazy
I proposed.
She said "yes", but only if we
avoided physiology altogether
because she only
loved me metaphysically.
Metaphysically.
Very well.
The wedding was
and we went to this poet.
He"s dead now.
A few friends,
a lot of drinking...
At 2 o"clock
I went to the kitchen
and I saw
my beloved girl
and the poet...
so busy with each other,
they didn"t see me.
I went home, then away,
then came back...
and...
I still loved her.
Once,
just like now...
I was on my bed.
Suddenly,
she came,
laid next to me.
We didn"t talk
for a long time. And then...
I gave her 20 zlotys
and told her to go away.
She took the money and went.
End of the story.
I told you that
to educate you.
Let"s get a vodka.
Good idea. We haven"t drank together
for 6 months.
- Well, Salis.
- Yes?
Do you know jasmine"s in bloom,
and the old wine awaits.
And, as before, in cafes lovers
whisper their spells...
Red clouds glide in the sky.
Red clouds. Love.
Your letters lie, my love,
so full of pretty words.
My love, why do I read them today
I know the game you play.
I know one has to know
the taste of breaking up.
Why is it always so: the letter,
sad today, was once so sweet,
and tears still run,
why have our dreams ended?
What is it?
I remembered when
you left me...
Why, it"s been a year...
And it"s not true.
Have a wine.
Yes, he run away from me
and was gone for three days.
Sorry, two.
What do they care?
That"s our business.
Waiter?
Get us more wine.
Hey, Sa...
God love you,
get more wine!
- Order tripe for me.
- There"s no tripe.
How do you mean? At home
I have tripe on Saturdays.
A home is a home.
A home is a home.
- ...you mean by that?
- Leave it, Lucia.
Get that wine!
Some place you picked!
Good you came,
we were bored stiff.
This one"s a bit bland.
Wrote a book about the sea,
a few silly stories.
- Have you read it?
- No.
-The book"s excellent!
- Maybe, but he"s not.
A cross between
a lecher and a saint.
Have you grown your beard for...
- erotic reasons?
- Not at all.
It"s my innocent weakness.
The beard or...
erotic reasons?
Where did you get them from?
He"s OK, but she"s awful!
I"m sorry.
Let"s drink!
What do you say to that?
Oh, my admirer.
Kiss!
- Well...
-This is awkward.
He"s the young man
I told you about.
Come!
Sorry he"s so wild,
but look, he"s got
an intelligent face.
Idiot.
Idiot, nothing more.
- What are you doing?
- Winding the clock.
It stopped when Zygmunt left.
He used to say a rhyme
to make it work.
He used to say a rhyme
to make it work.
- A rhyme?
- Yes.
A silly rhyme.
I can"t remember.
Maybe it"s a sign? Time stopped
when Zygmunt left.
Hold on, "time...
time won"t stop"...
Hold on, "time...
time won"t stop"...
"Time moves along, never to stop,
Time is a fear of every clock."
...Things in heaven and earth than
were not dreamt of in your philosophy.
...Things in heaven and earth than
were not dreamt of in your philosophy.
- How"s life?
- OK.
- How"s life?
- OK.
- Horrible crowd, eh?
-Yes.
I didn"t expect to get here,
I"m shocked.
I wait for something new.
I wait for something new.
- So what now?
- I"ll leave again...
I envy you.
One has to stay
in this city of no hope.
True.
- You"re writing.
- Who needs the scribbles?
In our village
a writer wrote a book.
He was done for,
everybody laughed at him.
Why is this idiot cutting in?
All sorts of things happen
in this world...
Stay longer, you"ll hear
more home truths...
"Time moves along..."
"Time moves along..."
What do we do?
Is it Sunday?
We should go somewhere...
We should go somewhere...
-To "Mala"?
- I don"t feel like it.
-There"s an exhibition opening.
- Is it very costly?
-There"s an exhibition opening.
- Is it very costly?
No, it isn"t.
Come on, it"s on me.
I"d like to have
a genuine, absolutely genuine
aristocrat girl.
a genuine, absolutely genuine
aristocrat girl.
Turn around.
- Apologise to me.
- It"s a misunderstanding.
Forget what I said in the cafe.
- I was just bored.
- My poor boy.
- I was just bored.
- My poor boy.
You don"t say
what you think.
I"m lucky to be
really loved.
My child,
you"re out of control!
- I know that story.
- About the money? That"s nothing.
- What money?
- Money he owes me.
- Nothing.
- Money?
- Nothing.
- Money?
- And the engagement?
- What?
What happened between you?
Whatever happens between
a silly woman and a drunkard writer.
He borrowed 500 from me,
never gave it back.
He borrowed 500 from me,
never gave it back.
Aha!
I"m sorry, I have to go.
Would you...
meet me again?
meet me again?
- Of course.
- And...
where do you live?
Here"s my address.
Good bye.
Here"s my address.
Good bye.
-You"re stupid.
- You lied to me.
- Miss Leopard? What did she say?
- Why did you lie? Why?
- Miss Leopard? What did she say?
- Why did you lie? Why?
Don"t shout,
are you mad?
I improvised,
did you have to believe me?
She likes you.
Come on.
Do come in.
Do sit down.
Do sit down.
Anywhere.
Let"s be on
first name terms.
- All right?
- Of course.
Let me look at you.
I see love in your eyes.
You said you thought
you could fall in love with me.
You said you thought
you could fall in love with me.
That said it all.
Be silent.
Yes...
It was beautiful.
Yes...
It was beautiful.
- I was sure it was true.
-You love me?
Yes, yes.
I wanted to see you.
My child, it"s good
we"re together at last.
My child, it"s good
we"re together at last.
Tell me about yourself.
I had bitter childhood.
I"ve no patience.
I feel...
I"ll never do anything.
A lot depends on you now.
A lot depends on you now.
This waltz is called
"On a Bridge".
This waltz is called
"On a Bridge".
Beautiful.
Will you be mine?
Physically?
I can"t. I can only
talk about love with you.
Delight in sweet words
you"ll create.
Delight in sweet words
you"ll create.
Those things are repulsive.
We"re too pure for that.
- How come?
- Why do you get angry?
- Do you realise...
- Don"t get mad!
Do you realise what you"re saying?
That"s so cynical.
- It"s simply...
- Stop! You are a boring prat.
Don"t know how
to have fun.
"Give myself to him"?
What am I, a whore?
Your coat is on the chair, sir.
I"d like to be alone.
- What do you want to?
- Write poetry.
- What kind?
- Doesn"t matter. Good poetry.
-That"s not a lot.
- Maybe.
- What will you write?
- Prose.
Realistic novels, stories.
Poetry does with no ideas.
Prose can"t.
What will you write?
You want to be a writer?
- Yes, an accomplished one.
- What?
I don"t want to be quoted by people
saying my heart burns for my country.
The saddest thing
about this conversation is
neither of us lives on ideas.
- How was the visit?
- We"ll talk later.
Zygmunt"s back,
lost his job.
Just as the local president.
He had weird ideas,
so his secretary was fired, too.
But he"ll have stories to tell: cocktails,
gramophones, politics and a car.
How nice.
Others struggle with life,
we"re having wine.
Funny, eh?
Very funny.
How"s your wife?
What? Ah...
She wants me to write a play
about her and myself.
She"s making fuss about it
every day.
- He"s here.
- Zygmunt!
- So how was it?
- Come on...
I"ve an unemployed glass
wanting a job.
- Let"s drink!
- Let"s.
I drunk better...
I learnt about responsibility.
It"s not a poem, it"s life.
Living life.
You"re not well.
Out of balance.
Rubbish! Only accepting reality
can satisfy you.
Complete disaster.
Let"s have wine.
And you, Dziadzia,
you"re a double-faced, lying dog.
That may be. Why?
- I know why.
-Tell.
Who whispered dirty jokes
- ...to my wife?
- Me? To your wife?
- When?
- In the spring.
I never tell women dirty jokes
in the spring. I leave it
for winter nights.
You told her,
- and she"s not used to that.
- What did I tell her?
- I can"t repeat it. It"s filth!
- You"re imagining things.
Well, then,
who told her...
- Disgusting.
- Well, who told her?
- A swine.
- Exactly.
- You know what?
- What?
Let"s go to your wife,
inspect the crime scene.
- Let"s change the scenery.
- If you think that necessary.
- I"m paying.
- Right, let"s investigate.
Everything we drank
is on me.
- O, no.
- I"ll pay, leave it.
Bill, please.
Thank you.
- What?
- Listen,
how about taking
a bottle of cognac?
Makes one stronger and wiser.
Turn the light off! Be quiet.
I"ll present the matter
to the wife.
Maybe we"ll settle it amicably.
What? Are you mad?
When, you filthy drunkard?
He dared tell me that?!
And I told you?
In the spring?
Get out, you alcoholic!
My wife denies it.
Let"s forget about
this unfortunate incident.
- Did you ask them to open the cognac?
- I"ll do it.
Have you seen that?
She did tell me!
I"m so happy you visited me.
Good evening to you!
Are you opening the bottle?
Stanislaw...
You haven"t told me anything.
Indeed.
It"s just a little qui pro quo.
I assure you it"s just
my husband"s imagination.
Allegedly, you told me...
Mister Lucjan, that"s my lingerie,
do drop it.
Thank you.
I saved you
from an awkward situation.
And don"t tell me any more of these
filthy things...
So he did tell you?
Of course not,
the lady believed it...
- Why are you eavesdropping?
- Hold on, I remember it well.
You told me about it in bed
and then you denied it.
Let"s leave this place...!
No longer mine.
Get your coats!
You said it and
you were right,
you knew
whom you spoke to!
Her name is Pinokio.
- Do you love Pinokio?
- I love everything Italian.
- Will you learn Italian?
- Never.
- Why?
- I"m stubborn.
Let"s drink, maybe you"ll change
your mind. What"s wrong?
No flower, no fruit
on summer"s day
will stop
my monstrous addiction.
Do you think I"m different?
I was drawn to lies and deceit
ever since I was a child.
And I tore off flies" wings.
I tied them with threads.
Emotional cheats! You talk about flies,
but every day...
- Interesting clothes.
- Nothing special.
People will stare
at you in the street.
- It"s a homely thing.
- Will you put on something else?
The clothes
I had on yesterday.
You awake?
- How are you?
- Can"t breathe. I"ve high fever.
Can be your throat,
or because of smoking.
It"s just a bit sore,
that"s all.
- We need a doctor.
- Somebody has to get him.
- You could get the doctor.
- It"s not serious.
One guy had 1 5 haemorrhages
and lives on.
You call that "friends"?
- Want to eat? There"s milk.
- Bring it.
Open the window.
It"s stuffy here.
Cover up.
I feel awful.
It"s just a hangover.
Milk may be good.
Want to go?
Morning is not so nigh.
"What envious streaks do lace
the severing clouds?
Night"s candles are burnt out,
day stands on the mountain tops.
I must be gone and live,
or stay and die."
Sit next to me.
It"s better when your ill.
Your not wandering. I can look at you.
You want to look at me?
- Yes, I like it.
- Shame.
You"re sorry
I like looking at you?
I"m sorry it"s too late for us
to look at each other.
I see myself in your eyes.
I see myself
as I wanted to be,
but as I couldn"t be.
I looked for myself everywhere,
but not where I really was.
"A bird sits on a tree,
surprised at people:
the wisest man doesn"t know
where happiness is."
- You"ll see, all will be well.
- We"ll run holding hands.
Sky will be blue, birds will fly,
grass will rustle.
It will all be real:
sky, birds, grass, meadow.
But we will be the most
real truth of it all.
Sleep.
You"ll see me
when you open your eyes.
Where are you going?
- I told you not to take my pen.
- I won"t eat it!
...Only sees what"s his,
but uses my tooth powder!
Like I need you powder!
Stuff it!
He"ll stuff the powder,
you"ll stuff the pen...
These are
students" matters.
- Write your poems.
- Will you let me sleep!
- You look bad.
-Yes.
- I"m waiting for a doctor.
- What can he say...
I want
to tell you something.
- Why do you suck your finger?
- I cut myself.
- Put some iodine on.
- Listen:
yesterday we were to start
an autopsy of a girl.
I saw her lay
on a marble slab.
Let me tell you:
I never saw such beauty.
- Get out!
- And then we cut her.
- She poisoned herself.
- Get out.
Right, time to eat.
You give bacon and bread,
I get eggs...
- How many eggs?
-Three each. Six.
- Is it worth it?
- Yes.
OK, three eggs each.
- You need to eat fat.
- I guess so.
You think I"ve no consumption?
I tire climbing stairs,
or at night.
Army cured me a bit.
And now, listen.
- Here he goes...
- You"re tired because you"re fat.
I"m not fat, just plump.
Otherwise I"m delicate.
I"m sensitive. My father died
because of nerves.
Over his cow dying!
Give me the eggs.
- Great.
- Don"t smash them.
You don"t understand,
I"ll smash them all.
- What are you looking for?
- I lost 2 zlotys.
It must have
fallen somewhere.
Got it! I fell victim to perversity
of inanimate objects.
- It was there.
- I lost a toothbrush once.
I went through
the whole flat.
You know where it was?
In the glass.
I just thought it was
somebody else"s.
That"s no "perversity".
You"re an idiot.
Let"s divide it,
you"re eating all bacon.
You got the breakfast
thanks to me!
- Why did you offer then?
- I took pity.
Eat it yourself!
Damn your eggs.
Well, I need fat,
I"ve poor lungs.
I don"t feel like eating.
"My brain will stop
working tomorrow.
I am not sure
I make sense now.
All night long I thought
red dogs run around me
and you stood over me
like I was a grouse."
- Do you understand?
- You"ve a fever.
Not me, Bazarov.
- What Bazarov?
- "Fathers and Sons", Turgenev.
Don"t you see? That"s pyemia.
An infection caused by cadaverine.
Idiotic joke.
- Are you better?
- Yes, the fever"s gone.
It"ll be fine.
We"ll go drinking soon.
Done. I"m off.
And when I pass
I"ll go to a brothel, but a good one,
for 1 0 zlotys.
Mister Mietek, a guest.
Sit down.
It"s past 1 0 a.m.
Lazarewiczowa"s been jailed
for 2 months.
They closed the last issue.
One has to shut up
and then publish something else.
- Was there no trouble at your house?
- They"re not that important.
- You drove all night.
- Yes.
I wanted to give it back to you.
Right, put it away.
- Good drive?
- Yes, quiet night.
There.
Don"t get upset,
no need for that.
Raise your hands,
you"ll relax.
Now.
- There, there...
- What would you like?
Steak with onions
and a lager.
So difficult
to work it out?
Go back to bed.
I"d be devastated
to break up your rest.
- I decide whether to lay or not.
- As you please.
Is there something on him, eh?
Don"t get in such a hurry.
You"ll get to put
your clothes on.
Who are you?
Archangel Gabriel.
What are you doing here?
- Putting my jacket on.
- I like a sense of humour.
Hopefully, we"ll get
to joke many times.
- Why don"t you get dressed?
- I can"t get up.
- We could help you.
- I"m ill.
I bled out badly
yesterday.
Why are you
in this lovely place?
I"m a tenant.
We"ll wait till you get better.
You won"t refuse
talking to us, I hope.
Let"s go for a walk.
What? You could get jailed
for the beard alone.
- As an anarchist.
- I was jailed in Shanghai.
For smuggling.
That"s lovely.
What happens now?
Nothing.
He"ll die and I"ll hang myself.
And you"ll become a minister.
And then everything will be easy.
Well?
I"m OK.
Have you returned
Miss Leopard"s money?
What money?
Of course.
Every penny.
I"m going to "Mala" at 1 p.m.
There"s a party.
- What do they want from Mieciek?
-To tell them something.
My God, my God,
I always knew he"ll get it.
- What has he done?
- Nothing.
You slave long days
to bring a child up
and then they drag him
through jails.
Father"s always belonged to a party.
They locked him up.
I always lived in fear.
And now this one.
I wish I died,
stopped looking at it all.
Do you need anything?
Oranges?
Don"t be ashamed.
You"ll pay it back
when you"re well.
Just get me a drink.
I don"t know how to thank you.
Keeping me here
- ...for nothing.
- No problem.
-You"re going out?
- No, maybe I"ll write.
This house calms me down.
Why, though, everything
goes to waste? Bad luck?
Hell knows.
What mediocre lives we live.
It"s not normal.
I can"t even pinpoint it, but...
- it"s not that simple.
- Zygmunt!
Yes.
Why knock? You only
upset people!
- So early...?
- I"m going to cinema with a friend.
And what...
- movie, Miss Fela?
- Well...
I can"t remember the title.
- So you have seen it?
- Many times!
An Arab girl
falls in love with a cowboy.
The Arabs want
her to marry a sheik.
So they strap
the cowboy to a horse,
- but he cuts himself loose...
- Silly Arab girl, why fall in love?
He was handsome! And the band
played well, directed by Furmanski.
I"ll go then, too.
I"ll get you some books.
- I flunked.
- What on?
Economy.
- What did they ask you?
- Never mind.
- Will you hang yourself?
- What would you do?
- If everything was so bad for you.
- Learn a craft.
What?
I"m grown up,
wasted so much money.
- Should I learn more?
- Learn?
Now that you know
you"re unable to?
Think about your fate.
It is something I don"t have to...
...think about.
Mister Jozek...!
I knew a girl once,
we met every night
and went to the river.
We kissed in the shade of the trees.
Brightly lit ships went past
with bands playing.
Smell of jasmine...
Then I saw the girl
from afar.
Dressed brightly,
swinging her hips,
waving her bag,
pacing to and fro,
to and fro...
Have you slept?
No, and I"ve heard it all!
You could be more mindful.
What are you on about?
Are you jealous?
Kryska!
This way, doctor.
I can"t help him,
he"s dead.
Go to bed,
you"ll catch a cold.
May I?
Just like in Murger...
Tell me,
what is wrong, my boy?
Why did you come?
I feel really guilty
- but there"s no point...
- She"d better go.
- Please, understand...
- I don"t feel like it.
You"d better leave.
So ill, so very dear...
And so nervous.
Well?
Friends?
- How can you?
- One has to.
You have to get better.
You"ll come to see me.
I"ve so much tenderness for you,
my boy.
- Just go, now.
- You"re so sweet when you tease.
- Get out, now!
- You mean it, then?
That"s a first for me...
Madman!
- What did she want?
- I don"t know.
Everybody"s left?
- You don"t know?
- About what?
Bednarczyk hung himself.
What...?
I thought
the janitors told you...
- Why would he do that?
- He didn"t pass the exam.
I looked at it all and I knew
it was no good.
He wanted to be a lord.
So how was it?
I learnt about it
3 years ago.
I felt bad recently,
but I thought it was
because of a bad mood.
Yesterday
I drank a lot,
and had a haemorrhage.
- A lot of blood?
- A lot.
Unbutton your shirt.
Cough, please.
Breathe.
Hold it.
Out.
Thank you.
What do I do?
Rest a lot.
I"ll prescribe you
codeine,
calcium.
It"s stuffy here,
open the windows.
Thank you.
He"ll die soon.
- You"re asleep?
- No, thinking.
He looks strange.
Is he worse?
The doctor said he"s only got
a few hours.
I thought he looked unnatural.
Don"t cry,
it may upset him.
How are you?
There"s a postcard.
Read it.
"I"ll be with you in a few days."
That"s all...
- Do you need anything?
- Nothing.
Stop looking after me.
I"m off. If you need anything,
call me.
- Should we get the doctor again?
- What for?
He said he could do nothing.
- Chicken broth.
- Don"t want it.
Take it...
- ...away.
- I killed a chicken for you.
I don"t want it.
Talking exhausts you?
A lot.
I think...
We should talk
in the end.
You were not the only one.
That"s the spirit of the place.
It"s bad...
...it is not just us.
It was hard, but we helped you
as much as we could.
I want to tell you that you"ve done
quite well in here.
- It"s hard to talk.
- Don"t talk, then.
I"ll miss you.
I wanted to tell you something.
I had a Viennese walking stick,
...Viennese one and...
I lost it.
I wanted to tell you...
Miss Leopard will marry me.
You think it"s nonsense?
Everything is.
One has to create myths.
They help take reality
less seriously.
Marriage to Miss Leopard
is my new myth.
Maybe the last one.
What happened?
It"s done.
He died.
He died.
And that"s...
all...
THE END
PRODUCTION TEAM
PRESENTS
ONE ROOM TENANTS
BASED ON A NOVEL
It is at the end of the world,
and every cop knows that.
Black as a gramophone record,
The same song
over and over again:
Sark street, Sark street,
Disaster street.
Love unties, like a knot
Glory comes, sooner or later
But once that street
enchants you
Like emerald you"ll fall,
right to the bottom
Sark street, Sark street.
A desperate street,
my lords.
On Sark, by skies and music
the Muses lived,
And you, my Euridice,
But wind has swept you away...
So I set my hurdy gurdy,
Black blood run
through my throat
And off I went,
Into a boring chant:
Bring back my Euridice!
Round goes beloved crank.
And if you swear, I don"t care.
Same right to love -
Orpheus or a street player.
Sark street, Sark street.
Street in the rain,
street at an angle.
Sark street, Sark street.
I"ll show you what a street...
Am I to slave for you?
Get a servant, princess!
Get a servant yourself!
Baroness!
- Will you sweep?
- Who did yesterday?
- See the broom?
- Get your broom off!
What did you want,
a wedding vale?
Salis, how are you?
Happy to see you!
Sit down.
How"s your health?
Better?
Mother says you can live here.
It"s no luxury...
My health is not either.
You know,
I crave writing.
I have something friendly
to tell the world.
There are worse places,
people struggle with their lives.
But there"s wide skies,
sun shines.
There"s no window,
through which
sun wouldn"t shine.
Even just a flicker.
One has to stick to sun beams.
- Coffee?
- No, thanks.
Have you seen my book?
Why all the bottles and papers?
Draughtsmen lived here.
The new one draws as well.
"Time moves along, never to stop,
Time is a fear of every clock."
What"s that?
It won"t stir until
you say the rhyme.
Maybe it"s ambitious,
maybe just childish.
Who"s singing?
Fur cutter. He sings
on nice mornings.
- You like it?
- I like he sings when it"s nice.
That"s the yard, that"s the street,
that"s the sky
and that"s the voice.
Zygmunt?
Don"t you feel this street
looks like it"s in an Eastern city?
With a bit of imagination...
It can be the East, or Champs Elysees,
or a forest road...
Imagination is a liar.
I"m fed up with it all,
with all fantasies...
You get it.
- Morning.
- Morning.
- Meet my mum.
- Stukonis.
Let"s talk money: how much
should I pay you?
How much
can you pay?
You tell me.
Breakfast included.
Well...
25 for the rent,
- ...and 5 for light.
- Here you are.
- Put it here.
- Right away.
Very well.
We"ll live together,
we"ll talk.
Let"s go for a walk.
There"s a Jewish bar
round the corner,
it may be open.
- Balm vodka lights up the mind
- ...and with Vermouth helps to think.
One of each, then.
Great. I like you, Salis.
Pour on.
There.
Great for the stomach.
- Shall we sit?
- Get the Vermouth down first.
- Get the liver, I"ll take the fish...
- One each...
- Shame Dziadzia isn"t here.
- Shame. Two more.
He left suddenly, mysteriously,
as usual.
-There.
- It is more by glasses.
- Let"s get the bottle.
- One bottle, please!
I feel great,
we feel great...
Stick to the sun beams.
- Easier to stick to a bottle.
- With a bonus.
I don"t want to give in!
- What?
- We"re falling down.
War, tragic generation, etc.
Maybe we lack talent
and create myths?
I have something to say,
I have to!
Go on, then.
Europe"s listening.
We"re in a gutter, so we try to prove
the whole world is one.
We have to get out of it.
But how?
How?
Clinging to the sun beams.
We dream of a great,
beautiful love, and then
go with the first whore...
It doesn"t happen only to love.
Cling to the sun beams!
-Too long for a title.
- It"s not a title. Let"s drink.
- What is it?
- A letter to you.
"What will become of us?
We"re weights at God"s feet."
We"re paying!
And going straight home.
I"ve a review to write.
Hear that, people?
A review!
Home.
A brothel where our lair is.
A rum for the road?
A bottle with a long neck?
1 2 zlotys?
- 1 2 zlotys.
-Thank you.
Come on.
You"re drunk.
You"ve stronger head
than Zygmunt.
I got energy staying
in the mountains.
Bednarczyk is back!
- Will you study again?
- Yes.
New lodgers?
I trust I won"t
disturb you here.
Pay no attention,
he"s a fool.
Who is he?
Good guy, studies law.
Back from the army.
He was mad. Drank pints of tea
and took his temperature.
- Did he get better?
- Who"s laughing?
A woman in panties,
figuratively speaking.
Au revoir.
I"m sleepy.
Tomorrow: hangover.
So how was it?
Not bad.
I was a corporal.
Then I did desk work.
It was good.
Army got rid of
germs from my system.
I"m cured.
Barracks, exercise...
- Morning.
- Morning.
He was putting posters up again.
Look, his hands are
covered in paint!
Leave it, mum,
let me sleep.
Mieciek, get up.
Breakfast.
They"ll get you!
They"ll get him,
you"ll see.
Mister Jozik, you"ve eaten
all crackling again!
Drop that comb!
What did you use before?
...Fuss about a comb!
Mrs. Stukonis,
what"s for breakfast?
Mocca and Spanish cake.
Always the same trouble.
Will you stop getting in the way?
Put it away for a moment.
I want to fry the eggs.
I"m in a hurry!
You"ll do that later.
OK, OK.
Breakfast!
I"ve an exam soon
and he"s whistling!
"The Internationale".
Stop! I have to learn!
Learn what you want,
you won"t pass anyway.
Mrs. Stukonis,
a student is being offended!
Mieciek, Mieciek,
be nice, or else!
What are you up to?
Another demo?
If they"d kill you,
you"d stop going.
Mum, I"m in no mood
for ideological discussions.
Coffee"s getting cold.
Go away!
Mister Joziek, he"s pinching me.
I"ll bruise!
Once I get a job
I"m moving out.
Nice girl.
Teodozja?
She teases Mietek
and then complains.
I"d set him straight,
but I"ve an exam.
Don"t want to get upset.
- Where are the glasses?
- On the stove.
Leave it, I"ll pour
it for you.
Thank you.
Why are you
looking at me?
Just looking.
Well...
How are you, old bum?
- Horrible.
- I"m grand.
Miss Todzia...
You like blonds or brunets?
Neither. Blond men,
perhaps...?
If a brunet put a wig on
and took it off in bed...
would you be upset?
A poet and speaks
nonsense!
I"m sorry: not in bed.
On a sofa.
Shall we go to "Mala"?
Too early yet...
- Excuse me.
- No problem.
- Who are they?
-Teodozja is studying
and Felicja
is in love with Jozef.
Mr. Jozef blushed.
On my back!
How funny.
Felicja works in a meat shop.
Sophisticated crowd.
What a weird life.
Women and poets
like to get up late.
And do nothing.
Your efforts and intelligence
go towards gaining a few zlotys.
In a few years you swim or...
bite the dust. Either - or.
- Stupid talk.
- Stupid talk.
Let"s go to "Mala".
I don"t feel like it.
I feel like writing.
- When will you be back?
- About 4 p.m. Bye.
Salis! Come if you make up
your mind.
Yes?
Where did you
come from?
Peasant"s family
and the 4th year of medicine.
Thank you kindly.
I wanted to know
why you were behind me.
I thought
"we"ll live together"
- and I stood there.
- Right.
My name"s Lucjan Salis.
An intellectual, right?
Not all writers are.
You"re sitting, thinking.
- Can I...?
- Go ahead.
I"ll tell you a funny, erotic story.
You"re bound to use it.
- About a year ago...
- Excuse me...
Why have you come now?
Holidays start soon.
I have an exam.
Listen to my story!
About a year ago
a girl from our village
started a sexual relationship
with a miller"s son.
She was innocent
and remained so.
What do you say to that?
Go away.
You tell me an idiotic story
and laugh at it yourself.
- What do you specialise in?
- Psychiatry.
Can you tell me,
if it"s true that
"you can tell a fool
by his laugher"?
- Get out of here!
- Why shout at her?
- She"s my sister, I look after her.
- I didn"t know.
Why shout at
people you look after?
She looked inside and smiled.
The other one
"looked and smiled", too.
I"m sorry, I have to go now.
Wait. The miller"s son...
Sorry.
Filth.
It"s all filth.
Another one killed himself
for her?
They do that, but
cannot be identified later.
If only they really
did it...
Poems wouldn"t have
to be paid for,
the world would be freed
of poor writers.
- Haven"t you got a zloty...?
- I haven"t, indeed.
Where did you
come from?
-Tell us about your trip.
- Well, my dears,
it"s hard to tell.
It was good.
I lived through more
than in one"s lifetime.
Believe you me,
it"s better out there.
Different.
Water
and sky. Honestly.
Cardiff, Casablanca, Barcelona
and Naples.
Different faces,
experiences...
- ...languages.
-They saw you in Radom.
All roads to the world
go through Radom.
We drank Vermouth from barrels,
through rubber pipes.
In Casablanca
and everywhere.
- I saw open seas...
- Of vodka.
You"re so boring!
Drinking coffee you don"t like,
pretending to be mature.
You just sit here.
Your poetry is rubbish!
Learn to think straight,
and to behave, too.
Apparently,
you"re the "promising" one.
Don"t go promising
too long.
Hi, gentlemen.
That"s just another kind
of a pose.
This one is really sad,
he believes
he"s on a mission.
He ought to get a slap.
Yup.
- Salis, how are you?
- Getting there.
And looking great.
Zygmunt, how"s life?
Disgusting.
I want to be a secretary
to a regional president.
We"re drinking,
bored out our brains,
- they"re so barren it"s scary.
- You"ll see for yourself.
- She"s looking at you.
- Who?
Plugged up again.
-The mermaid smelled the sea.
- She"s like the weather.
You talk about her
when there"s no other subject.
Take me away, for Lord"s sake,
I don"t want to talk to her.
- What"s going on?
- Don"t ask.
- So, what"s the news?
- Nothing much.
I walk in the park,
look at the pond.
- I like water in the evenings.
- I"m sorry, I have to go.
Miss?
Yes?
You"re walking alone, I walk alone,
and I thought...
Well?
Why can"t we
walk together?
Most original.
- A poet, are you?
- I"m into prose.
I"m so happy to talk to you.
I dreamt about it.
I could fall
in love with you.
That"s very poetic
for a prose writer.
- What"s your name?
- Lucjan.
Nice.
It"s nice that such
a cute boy could love me,
but I"m in a hurry.
I have to say good bye.
And please, tell Dziadzia
to call me.
Good bye.
Why did I say that?
I don"t even like her.
Did you sleep?
May I sit here?
Is it raining?
No.
- It is.
- No.
No.
Don"t be angry.
I"m not.
Go, open it.
Somebody"s knocking.
I came for your tenancy
registration slip.
New lodgers come
all the time...
We"re spinsters. We"ve prayed
and God remembers us.
We have a room,
60 zlotys a month
and a church nearby.
Have you filled it?
Give me the slip.
Mister student!
I"m leaving!
I"m leaving tonight!
Secretary to the president.
I"m pleased,
but not too much.
- We"ll have a party.
- Sorry, I don"t feel like it.
You"ll drink, I"ll pass.
I can"t.
Don"t you want to spend
the last night with a friend?
As you wish.
Wait, I"ll get ready.
Miss Leopard wants
you to phone her.
- What for?
- How should I know?
Lucjan Salis
I"ll tell you:
I was mad about her,
and she...
ignored me.
She liked fame.
She went for
a more popular guy.
I was so crazy
I proposed.
She said "yes", but only if we
avoided physiology altogether
because she only
loved me metaphysically.
Metaphysically.
Very well.
The wedding was
and we went to this poet.
He"s dead now.
A few friends,
a lot of drinking...
At 2 o"clock
I went to the kitchen
and I saw
my beloved girl
and the poet...
so busy with each other,
they didn"t see me.
I went home, then away,
then came back...
and...
I still loved her.
Once,
just like now...
I was on my bed.
Suddenly,
she came,
laid next to me.
We didn"t talk
for a long time. And then...
I gave her 20 zlotys
and told her to go away.
She took the money and went.
End of the story.
I told you that
to educate you.
Let"s get a vodka.
Good idea. We haven"t drank together
for 6 months.
- Well, Salis.
- Yes?
Do you know jasmine"s in bloom,
and the old wine awaits.
And, as before, in cafes lovers
whisper their spells...
Red clouds glide in the sky.
Red clouds. Love.
Your letters lie, my love,
so full of pretty words.
My love, why do I read them today
I know the game you play.
I know one has to know
the taste of breaking up.
Why is it always so: the letter,
sad today, was once so sweet,
and tears still run,
why have our dreams ended?
What is it?
I remembered when
you left me...
Why, it"s been a year...
And it"s not true.
Have a wine.
Yes, he run away from me
and was gone for three days.
Sorry, two.
What do they care?
That"s our business.
Waiter?
Get us more wine.
Hey, Sa...
God love you,
get more wine!
- Order tripe for me.
- There"s no tripe.
How do you mean? At home
I have tripe on Saturdays.
A home is a home.
A home is a home.
- ...you mean by that?
- Leave it, Lucia.
Get that wine!
Some place you picked!
Good you came,
we were bored stiff.
This one"s a bit bland.
Wrote a book about the sea,
a few silly stories.
- Have you read it?
- No.
-The book"s excellent!
- Maybe, but he"s not.
A cross between
a lecher and a saint.
Have you grown your beard for...
- erotic reasons?
- Not at all.
It"s my innocent weakness.
The beard or...
erotic reasons?
Where did you get them from?
He"s OK, but she"s awful!
I"m sorry.
Let"s drink!
What do you say to that?
Oh, my admirer.
Kiss!
- Well...
-This is awkward.
He"s the young man
I told you about.
Come!
Sorry he"s so wild,
but look, he"s got
an intelligent face.
Idiot.
Idiot, nothing more.
- What are you doing?
- Winding the clock.
It stopped when Zygmunt left.
He used to say a rhyme
to make it work.
He used to say a rhyme
to make it work.
- A rhyme?
- Yes.
A silly rhyme.
I can"t remember.
Maybe it"s a sign? Time stopped
when Zygmunt left.
Hold on, "time...
time won"t stop"...
Hold on, "time...
time won"t stop"...
"Time moves along, never to stop,
Time is a fear of every clock."
...Things in heaven and earth than
were not dreamt of in your philosophy.
...Things in heaven and earth than
were not dreamt of in your philosophy.
- How"s life?
- OK.
- How"s life?
- OK.
- Horrible crowd, eh?
-Yes.
I didn"t expect to get here,
I"m shocked.
I wait for something new.
I wait for something new.
- So what now?
- I"ll leave again...
I envy you.
One has to stay
in this city of no hope.
True.
- You"re writing.
- Who needs the scribbles?
In our village
a writer wrote a book.
He was done for,
everybody laughed at him.
Why is this idiot cutting in?
All sorts of things happen
in this world...
Stay longer, you"ll hear
more home truths...
"Time moves along..."
"Time moves along..."
What do we do?
Is it Sunday?
We should go somewhere...
We should go somewhere...
-To "Mala"?
- I don"t feel like it.
-There"s an exhibition opening.
- Is it very costly?
-There"s an exhibition opening.
- Is it very costly?
No, it isn"t.
Come on, it"s on me.
I"d like to have
a genuine, absolutely genuine
aristocrat girl.
a genuine, absolutely genuine
aristocrat girl.
Turn around.
- Apologise to me.
- It"s a misunderstanding.
Forget what I said in the cafe.
- I was just bored.
- My poor boy.
- I was just bored.
- My poor boy.
You don"t say
what you think.
I"m lucky to be
really loved.
My child,
you"re out of control!
- I know that story.
- About the money? That"s nothing.
- What money?
- Money he owes me.
- Nothing.
- Money?
- Nothing.
- Money?
- And the engagement?
- What?
What happened between you?
Whatever happens between
a silly woman and a drunkard writer.
He borrowed 500 from me,
never gave it back.
He borrowed 500 from me,
never gave it back.
Aha!
I"m sorry, I have to go.
Would you...
meet me again?
meet me again?
- Of course.
- And...
where do you live?
Here"s my address.
Good bye.
Here"s my address.
Good bye.
-You"re stupid.
- You lied to me.
- Miss Leopard? What did she say?
- Why did you lie? Why?
- Miss Leopard? What did she say?
- Why did you lie? Why?
Don"t shout,
are you mad?
I improvised,
did you have to believe me?
She likes you.
Come on.
Do come in.
Do sit down.
Do sit down.
Anywhere.
Let"s be on
first name terms.
- All right?
- Of course.
Let me look at you.
I see love in your eyes.
You said you thought
you could fall in love with me.
You said you thought
you could fall in love with me.
That said it all.
Be silent.
Yes...
It was beautiful.
Yes...
It was beautiful.
- I was sure it was true.
-You love me?
Yes, yes.
I wanted to see you.
My child, it"s good
we"re together at last.
My child, it"s good
we"re together at last.
Tell me about yourself.
I had bitter childhood.
I"ve no patience.
I feel...
I"ll never do anything.
A lot depends on you now.
A lot depends on you now.
This waltz is called
"On a Bridge".
This waltz is called
"On a Bridge".
Beautiful.
Will you be mine?
Physically?
I can"t. I can only
talk about love with you.
Delight in sweet words
you"ll create.
Delight in sweet words
you"ll create.
Those things are repulsive.
We"re too pure for that.
- How come?
- Why do you get angry?
- Do you realise...
- Don"t get mad!
Do you realise what you"re saying?
That"s so cynical.
- It"s simply...
- Stop! You are a boring prat.
Don"t know how
to have fun.
"Give myself to him"?
What am I, a whore?
Your coat is on the chair, sir.
I"d like to be alone.
- What do you want to?
- Write poetry.
- What kind?
- Doesn"t matter. Good poetry.
-That"s not a lot.
- Maybe.
- What will you write?
- Prose.
Realistic novels, stories.
Poetry does with no ideas.
Prose can"t.
What will you write?
You want to be a writer?
- Yes, an accomplished one.
- What?
I don"t want to be quoted by people
saying my heart burns for my country.
The saddest thing
about this conversation is
neither of us lives on ideas.
- How was the visit?
- We"ll talk later.
Zygmunt"s back,
lost his job.
Just as the local president.
He had weird ideas,
so his secretary was fired, too.
But he"ll have stories to tell: cocktails,
gramophones, politics and a car.
How nice.
Others struggle with life,
we"re having wine.
Funny, eh?
Very funny.
How"s your wife?
What? Ah...
She wants me to write a play
about her and myself.
She"s making fuss about it
every day.
- He"s here.
- Zygmunt!
- So how was it?
- Come on...
I"ve an unemployed glass
wanting a job.
- Let"s drink!
- Let"s.
I drunk better...
I learnt about responsibility.
It"s not a poem, it"s life.
Living life.
You"re not well.
Out of balance.
Rubbish! Only accepting reality
can satisfy you.
Complete disaster.
Let"s have wine.
And you, Dziadzia,
you"re a double-faced, lying dog.
That may be. Why?
- I know why.
-Tell.
Who whispered dirty jokes
- ...to my wife?
- Me? To your wife?
- When?
- In the spring.
I never tell women dirty jokes
in the spring. I leave it
for winter nights.
You told her,
- and she"s not used to that.
- What did I tell her?
- I can"t repeat it. It"s filth!
- You"re imagining things.
Well, then,
who told her...
- Disgusting.
- Well, who told her?
- A swine.
- Exactly.
- You know what?
- What?
Let"s go to your wife,
inspect the crime scene.
- Let"s change the scenery.
- If you think that necessary.
- I"m paying.
- Right, let"s investigate.
Everything we drank
is on me.
- O, no.
- I"ll pay, leave it.
Bill, please.
Thank you.
- What?
- Listen,
how about taking
a bottle of cognac?
Makes one stronger and wiser.
Turn the light off! Be quiet.
I"ll present the matter
to the wife.
Maybe we"ll settle it amicably.
What? Are you mad?
When, you filthy drunkard?
He dared tell me that?!
And I told you?
In the spring?
Get out, you alcoholic!
My wife denies it.
Let"s forget about
this unfortunate incident.
- Did you ask them to open the cognac?
- I"ll do it.
Have you seen that?
She did tell me!
I"m so happy you visited me.
Good evening to you!
Are you opening the bottle?
Stanislaw...
You haven"t told me anything.
Indeed.
It"s just a little qui pro quo.
I assure you it"s just
my husband"s imagination.
Allegedly, you told me...
Mister Lucjan, that"s my lingerie,
do drop it.
Thank you.
I saved you
from an awkward situation.
And don"t tell me any more of these
filthy things...
So he did tell you?
Of course not,
the lady believed it...
- Why are you eavesdropping?
- Hold on, I remember it well.
You told me about it in bed
and then you denied it.
Let"s leave this place...!
No longer mine.
Get your coats!
You said it and
you were right,
you knew
whom you spoke to!
Her name is Pinokio.
- Do you love Pinokio?
- I love everything Italian.
- Will you learn Italian?
- Never.
- Why?
- I"m stubborn.
Let"s drink, maybe you"ll change
your mind. What"s wrong?
No flower, no fruit
on summer"s day
will stop
my monstrous addiction.
Do you think I"m different?
I was drawn to lies and deceit
ever since I was a child.
And I tore off flies" wings.
I tied them with threads.
Emotional cheats! You talk about flies,
but every day...
- Interesting clothes.
- Nothing special.
People will stare
at you in the street.
- It"s a homely thing.
- Will you put on something else?
The clothes
I had on yesterday.
You awake?
- How are you?
- Can"t breathe. I"ve high fever.
Can be your throat,
or because of smoking.
It"s just a bit sore,
that"s all.
- We need a doctor.
- Somebody has to get him.
- You could get the doctor.
- It"s not serious.
One guy had 1 5 haemorrhages
and lives on.
You call that "friends"?
- Want to eat? There"s milk.
- Bring it.
Open the window.
It"s stuffy here.
Cover up.
I feel awful.
It"s just a hangover.
Milk may be good.
Want to go?
Morning is not so nigh.
"What envious streaks do lace
the severing clouds?
Night"s candles are burnt out,
day stands on the mountain tops.
I must be gone and live,
or stay and die."
Sit next to me.
It"s better when your ill.
Your not wandering. I can look at you.
You want to look at me?
- Yes, I like it.
- Shame.
You"re sorry
I like looking at you?
I"m sorry it"s too late for us
to look at each other.
I see myself in your eyes.
I see myself
as I wanted to be,
but as I couldn"t be.
I looked for myself everywhere,
but not where I really was.
"A bird sits on a tree,
surprised at people:
the wisest man doesn"t know
where happiness is."
- You"ll see, all will be well.
- We"ll run holding hands.
Sky will be blue, birds will fly,
grass will rustle.
It will all be real:
sky, birds, grass, meadow.
But we will be the most
real truth of it all.
Sleep.
You"ll see me
when you open your eyes.
Where are you going?
- I told you not to take my pen.
- I won"t eat it!
...Only sees what"s his,
but uses my tooth powder!
Like I need you powder!
Stuff it!
He"ll stuff the powder,
you"ll stuff the pen...
These are
students" matters.
- Write your poems.
- Will you let me sleep!
- You look bad.
-Yes.
- I"m waiting for a doctor.
- What can he say...
I want
to tell you something.
- Why do you suck your finger?
- I cut myself.
- Put some iodine on.
- Listen:
yesterday we were to start
an autopsy of a girl.
I saw her lay
on a marble slab.
Let me tell you:
I never saw such beauty.
- Get out!
- And then we cut her.
- She poisoned herself.
- Get out.
Right, time to eat.
You give bacon and bread,
I get eggs...
- How many eggs?
-Three each. Six.
- Is it worth it?
- Yes.
OK, three eggs each.
- You need to eat fat.
- I guess so.
You think I"ve no consumption?
I tire climbing stairs,
or at night.
Army cured me a bit.
And now, listen.
- Here he goes...
- You"re tired because you"re fat.
I"m not fat, just plump.
Otherwise I"m delicate.
I"m sensitive. My father died
because of nerves.
Over his cow dying!
Give me the eggs.
- Great.
- Don"t smash them.
You don"t understand,
I"ll smash them all.
- What are you looking for?
- I lost 2 zlotys.
It must have
fallen somewhere.
Got it! I fell victim to perversity
of inanimate objects.
- It was there.
- I lost a toothbrush once.
I went through
the whole flat.
You know where it was?
In the glass.
I just thought it was
somebody else"s.
That"s no "perversity".
You"re an idiot.
Let"s divide it,
you"re eating all bacon.
You got the breakfast
thanks to me!
- Why did you offer then?
- I took pity.
Eat it yourself!
Damn your eggs.
Well, I need fat,
I"ve poor lungs.
I don"t feel like eating.
"My brain will stop
working tomorrow.
I am not sure
I make sense now.
All night long I thought
red dogs run around me
and you stood over me
like I was a grouse."
- Do you understand?
- You"ve a fever.
Not me, Bazarov.
- What Bazarov?
- "Fathers and Sons", Turgenev.
Don"t you see? That"s pyemia.
An infection caused by cadaverine.
Idiotic joke.
- Are you better?
- Yes, the fever"s gone.
It"ll be fine.
We"ll go drinking soon.
Done. I"m off.
And when I pass
I"ll go to a brothel, but a good one,
for 1 0 zlotys.
Mister Mietek, a guest.
Sit down.
It"s past 1 0 a.m.
Lazarewiczowa"s been jailed
for 2 months.
They closed the last issue.
One has to shut up
and then publish something else.
- Was there no trouble at your house?
- They"re not that important.
- You drove all night.
- Yes.
I wanted to give it back to you.
Right, put it away.
- Good drive?
- Yes, quiet night.
There.
Don"t get upset,
no need for that.
Raise your hands,
you"ll relax.
Now.
- There, there...
- What would you like?
Steak with onions
and a lager.
So difficult
to work it out?
Go back to bed.
I"d be devastated
to break up your rest.
- I decide whether to lay or not.
- As you please.
Is there something on him, eh?
Don"t get in such a hurry.
You"ll get to put
your clothes on.
Who are you?
Archangel Gabriel.
What are you doing here?
- Putting my jacket on.
- I like a sense of humour.
Hopefully, we"ll get
to joke many times.
- Why don"t you get dressed?
- I can"t get up.
- We could help you.
- I"m ill.
I bled out badly
yesterday.
Why are you
in this lovely place?
I"m a tenant.
We"ll wait till you get better.
You won"t refuse
talking to us, I hope.
Let"s go for a walk.
What? You could get jailed
for the beard alone.
- As an anarchist.
- I was jailed in Shanghai.
For smuggling.
That"s lovely.
What happens now?
Nothing.
He"ll die and I"ll hang myself.
And you"ll become a minister.
And then everything will be easy.
Well?
I"m OK.
Have you returned
Miss Leopard"s money?
What money?
Of course.
Every penny.
I"m going to "Mala" at 1 p.m.
There"s a party.
- What do they want from Mieciek?
-To tell them something.
My God, my God,
I always knew he"ll get it.
- What has he done?
- Nothing.
You slave long days
to bring a child up
and then they drag him
through jails.
Father"s always belonged to a party.
They locked him up.
I always lived in fear.
And now this one.
I wish I died,
stopped looking at it all.
Do you need anything?
Oranges?
Don"t be ashamed.
You"ll pay it back
when you"re well.
Just get me a drink.
I don"t know how to thank you.
Keeping me here
- ...for nothing.
- No problem.
-You"re going out?
- No, maybe I"ll write.
This house calms me down.
Why, though, everything
goes to waste? Bad luck?
Hell knows.
What mediocre lives we live.
It"s not normal.
I can"t even pinpoint it, but...
- it"s not that simple.
- Zygmunt!
Yes.
Why knock? You only
upset people!
- So early...?
- I"m going to cinema with a friend.
And what...
- movie, Miss Fela?
- Well...
I can"t remember the title.
- So you have seen it?
- Many times!
An Arab girl
falls in love with a cowboy.
The Arabs want
her to marry a sheik.
So they strap
the cowboy to a horse,
- but he cuts himself loose...
- Silly Arab girl, why fall in love?
He was handsome! And the band
played well, directed by Furmanski.
I"ll go then, too.
I"ll get you some books.
- I flunked.
- What on?
Economy.
- What did they ask you?
- Never mind.
- Will you hang yourself?
- What would you do?
- If everything was so bad for you.
- Learn a craft.
What?
I"m grown up,
wasted so much money.
- Should I learn more?
- Learn?
Now that you know
you"re unable to?
Think about your fate.
It is something I don"t have to...
...think about.
Mister Jozek...!
I knew a girl once,
we met every night
and went to the river.
We kissed in the shade of the trees.
Brightly lit ships went past
with bands playing.
Smell of jasmine...
Then I saw the girl
from afar.
Dressed brightly,
swinging her hips,
waving her bag,
pacing to and fro,
to and fro...
Have you slept?
No, and I"ve heard it all!
You could be more mindful.
What are you on about?
Are you jealous?
Kryska!
This way, doctor.
I can"t help him,
he"s dead.
Go to bed,
you"ll catch a cold.
May I?
Just like in Murger...
Tell me,
what is wrong, my boy?
Why did you come?
I feel really guilty
- but there"s no point...
- She"d better go.
- Please, understand...
- I don"t feel like it.
You"d better leave.
So ill, so very dear...
And so nervous.
Well?
Friends?
- How can you?
- One has to.
You have to get better.
You"ll come to see me.
I"ve so much tenderness for you,
my boy.
- Just go, now.
- You"re so sweet when you tease.
- Get out, now!
- You mean it, then?
That"s a first for me...
Madman!
- What did she want?
- I don"t know.
Everybody"s left?
- You don"t know?
- About what?
Bednarczyk hung himself.
What...?
I thought
the janitors told you...
- Why would he do that?
- He didn"t pass the exam.
I looked at it all and I knew
it was no good.
He wanted to be a lord.
So how was it?
I learnt about it
3 years ago.
I felt bad recently,
but I thought it was
because of a bad mood.
Yesterday
I drank a lot,
and had a haemorrhage.
- A lot of blood?
- A lot.
Unbutton your shirt.
Cough, please.
Breathe.
Hold it.
Out.
Thank you.
What do I do?
Rest a lot.
I"ll prescribe you
codeine,
calcium.
It"s stuffy here,
open the windows.
Thank you.
He"ll die soon.
- You"re asleep?
- No, thinking.
He looks strange.
Is he worse?
The doctor said he"s only got
a few hours.
I thought he looked unnatural.
Don"t cry,
it may upset him.
How are you?
There"s a postcard.
Read it.
"I"ll be with you in a few days."
That"s all...
- Do you need anything?
- Nothing.
Stop looking after me.
I"m off. If you need anything,
call me.
- Should we get the doctor again?
- What for?
He said he could do nothing.
- Chicken broth.
- Don"t want it.
Take it...
- ...away.
- I killed a chicken for you.
I don"t want it.
Talking exhausts you?
A lot.
I think...
We should talk
in the end.
You were not the only one.
That"s the spirit of the place.
It"s bad...
...it is not just us.
It was hard, but we helped you
as much as we could.
I want to tell you that you"ve done
quite well in here.
- It"s hard to talk.
- Don"t talk, then.
I"ll miss you.
I wanted to tell you something.
I had a Viennese walking stick,
...Viennese one and...
I lost it.
I wanted to tell you...
Miss Leopard will marry me.
You think it"s nonsense?
Everything is.
One has to create myths.
They help take reality
less seriously.
Marriage to Miss Leopard
is my new myth.
Maybe the last one.
What happened?
It"s done.
He died.
He died.
And that"s...
all...
THE END