Refren (1972) - full transcript
Bureaucracy lives on even after somebody's death, as you can see from the example of an ordinary Warsaw funeral parlour.
Personal details
of the deceased's spouse...
Your personal details.
Personal details of the deceased.
Here's the photo.
The deceased will cease
to be registered automatically.
You don't need
to notify your administration.
REFRAIN
a film by Krzysztof Kieslowski
director of photography
sound
montage
production manager
No offence, sir,
but at an undertaker's establishment
we sincerely hope not to
see you again.
What's the point in leaving him
in the morgue for so long.
It's more pleasant in the church.
Plastic coffin decorations 111,30.
The cover 75, the plaque, white,
of course, 21 and coffin delivery 60.
Gradek Grazyna, Roman, Adam...
What district did the deceased use
to live in?
Kinowa Street.
I'm afraid we cannot bury
anyone outside their district.
We can bury him in Glinki.
I'm not sure you understood me...
We cannot...
I'm calling from room 21.
Yes, but don't take long...
You need to apply
for permission at the Health
and Safety office
in 34 Jagiellonska Street, room 34.
Then you need to take it
to the municipal bureau
in 15 Wojcika Street, room 312.
Having received authorisation...
Transport 8 zlotys per kilometre,
we charge one way plus service.
We've got a new receipt for those...
18 zlotys per kilometre with
a four-person service.
Halina, could you try to phone
the dispatcher's from that phone?
Father's death certificate and
a copy of mother's death certificate.
I'll issue information
for the Health and Safety office.
Lovely coffin.
Did you like it?
It was nice, we can't complain
but there's no headrest.
There is one, sir.
No, there isn't.
We never got one.
There is no separate headrest.
The headrest is made of wood shavings
which are under the canvas padding.
You simply turn the coffin head down
and as the shavings slide down
they form a headrest.
There's no separate headrest.
In the past there used
to be those nice little...
To my dear beloved wife.
Your husband. That's good...
You should go to the cemetery
to meet Mr. Chomatowski.
He's the senior grave-digger.
What kind of flowers would you like,
carnations or lilies?
870 and 138.10
What colour?
Red, very well.
Red and white.
That's a different name.
Perhaps, there's a...
We could go to jail
for forging documents, you know.
I could just rub it out with
my finger...
Finger, you say?
I advise you to keep
your finger to yourself.
But we know a lawyer.
We'll be alright.
Could you sign here, please.
1000 zlotys. The most beautiful one,
pine-wood...
Could I have your ID for a moment,
please?
I'll write down the number...
Oak is 2000 zlotys.
We offer a standard length
of two metres.
They only differ in height.
- Surname.
- Of the deceased?
Stanislaw Lewandowski...
or Lawandowski...
Write down Lewandowski.
It makes no difference.
That's the way things go.
One day our children will bury us...
And so on and so forth...
Franciszka was the first to be
buried there,
and now the deceased,
Feliksa, your daughter-in-law.
How many heirs did Franciszka have?
How many children?
You will need to write
a letter of request for a wreath
signed by the chief accountant
and the director,
the company account number
and a legible stamp.
- Any living relations?
- Aunt.
Any living children?
Franciszka didn't have any children
and her father's dead.
- What is your relation to Franciszka?
- She was my great-aunt.
How is your mother related
to Ludwika?
Is she her sister,
cousin or niece?
Grandmother Kulinska's father
was Ludwika Kulinska's brother.
What documents should I submit?
Ludwika Kulinska's death certificate.
Would you kindly listen when
I'm answering your question.
Mrs. Kuklinska's death certificate.
Her father, your grandfather
was Mrs. Kulinska's brother,
so your grandfather's death certificate
and your mother's death certificate.
With those documents we'll prove
that you're her... great-niece.
- Was that your husband's sister?
- Yes, it was.
Was she married or single?
Married.
She's buried with her husband.
Their children are...
There's nobody on that side
of the family.
In that case,
you have no right to that grave.
Should I appeal or something?
I have been maintaining that grave.
Looking after graves is
a moral obligation, madam.
Isle 51, row 3, grave 15.
They were buried head to head.
Head to head.
To a living person?
We don't sell graves
to the living.
Only with a death certificate,
directly prior to the funeral.
But you used to be able to...
True, in the past one could
buy oneself a grave.
One could even build oneself
a tomb or a monument. Not any more.
Madam, if we all started
to buy ourselves grave plots
we'd have no room
to bury the dead.
Some graves would be waiting
fifty years for someone to die.
That would be unacceptable.
At our age we won't have
to wait long.
You've got lots of time, madam.
What's the hurry? Spring's coming.
You don't need an ID, sir.
We trust everyone here.
No, I'm not asking about
that other grave. That's isle 55.
I have to have
his sister's permission.
We can't bury him in that grave
without her permission.
There isn't enough room for
a higher coffin.
We've only got 70 cm left.
It's the top level.
Stefan and Wladyslaw.
Yes.
Sir, I can sell you
a full-size 2.7 sqm grave plot.
But I can't...
Plot 121 in the first row.
Total cost is 31.35...
111.30 for decorations,
94 for the sack,
204 for the cover,
21 for the plaque...
8 by 120...
360 and 66.70...
- 33.04...
- 655...
33.05...
of the deceased's spouse...
Your personal details.
Personal details of the deceased.
Here's the photo.
The deceased will cease
to be registered automatically.
You don't need
to notify your administration.
REFRAIN
a film by Krzysztof Kieslowski
director of photography
sound
montage
production manager
No offence, sir,
but at an undertaker's establishment
we sincerely hope not to
see you again.
What's the point in leaving him
in the morgue for so long.
It's more pleasant in the church.
Plastic coffin decorations 111,30.
The cover 75, the plaque, white,
of course, 21 and coffin delivery 60.
Gradek Grazyna, Roman, Adam...
What district did the deceased use
to live in?
Kinowa Street.
I'm afraid we cannot bury
anyone outside their district.
We can bury him in Glinki.
I'm not sure you understood me...
We cannot...
I'm calling from room 21.
Yes, but don't take long...
You need to apply
for permission at the Health
and Safety office
in 34 Jagiellonska Street, room 34.
Then you need to take it
to the municipal bureau
in 15 Wojcika Street, room 312.
Having received authorisation...
Transport 8 zlotys per kilometre,
we charge one way plus service.
We've got a new receipt for those...
18 zlotys per kilometre with
a four-person service.
Halina, could you try to phone
the dispatcher's from that phone?
Father's death certificate and
a copy of mother's death certificate.
I'll issue information
for the Health and Safety office.
Lovely coffin.
Did you like it?
It was nice, we can't complain
but there's no headrest.
There is one, sir.
No, there isn't.
We never got one.
There is no separate headrest.
The headrest is made of wood shavings
which are under the canvas padding.
You simply turn the coffin head down
and as the shavings slide down
they form a headrest.
There's no separate headrest.
In the past there used
to be those nice little...
To my dear beloved wife.
Your husband. That's good...
You should go to the cemetery
to meet Mr. Chomatowski.
He's the senior grave-digger.
What kind of flowers would you like,
carnations or lilies?
870 and 138.10
What colour?
Red, very well.
Red and white.
That's a different name.
Perhaps, there's a...
We could go to jail
for forging documents, you know.
I could just rub it out with
my finger...
Finger, you say?
I advise you to keep
your finger to yourself.
But we know a lawyer.
We'll be alright.
Could you sign here, please.
1000 zlotys. The most beautiful one,
pine-wood...
Could I have your ID for a moment,
please?
I'll write down the number...
Oak is 2000 zlotys.
We offer a standard length
of two metres.
They only differ in height.
- Surname.
- Of the deceased?
Stanislaw Lewandowski...
or Lawandowski...
Write down Lewandowski.
It makes no difference.
That's the way things go.
One day our children will bury us...
And so on and so forth...
Franciszka was the first to be
buried there,
and now the deceased,
Feliksa, your daughter-in-law.
How many heirs did Franciszka have?
How many children?
You will need to write
a letter of request for a wreath
signed by the chief accountant
and the director,
the company account number
and a legible stamp.
- Any living relations?
- Aunt.
Any living children?
Franciszka didn't have any children
and her father's dead.
- What is your relation to Franciszka?
- She was my great-aunt.
How is your mother related
to Ludwika?
Is she her sister,
cousin or niece?
Grandmother Kulinska's father
was Ludwika Kulinska's brother.
What documents should I submit?
Ludwika Kulinska's death certificate.
Would you kindly listen when
I'm answering your question.
Mrs. Kuklinska's death certificate.
Her father, your grandfather
was Mrs. Kulinska's brother,
so your grandfather's death certificate
and your mother's death certificate.
With those documents we'll prove
that you're her... great-niece.
- Was that your husband's sister?
- Yes, it was.
Was she married or single?
Married.
She's buried with her husband.
Their children are...
There's nobody on that side
of the family.
In that case,
you have no right to that grave.
Should I appeal or something?
I have been maintaining that grave.
Looking after graves is
a moral obligation, madam.
Isle 51, row 3, grave 15.
They were buried head to head.
Head to head.
To a living person?
We don't sell graves
to the living.
Only with a death certificate,
directly prior to the funeral.
But you used to be able to...
True, in the past one could
buy oneself a grave.
One could even build oneself
a tomb or a monument. Not any more.
Madam, if we all started
to buy ourselves grave plots
we'd have no room
to bury the dead.
Some graves would be waiting
fifty years for someone to die.
That would be unacceptable.
At our age we won't have
to wait long.
You've got lots of time, madam.
What's the hurry? Spring's coming.
You don't need an ID, sir.
We trust everyone here.
No, I'm not asking about
that other grave. That's isle 55.
I have to have
his sister's permission.
We can't bury him in that grave
without her permission.
There isn't enough room for
a higher coffin.
We've only got 70 cm left.
It's the top level.
Stefan and Wladyslaw.
Yes.
Sir, I can sell you
a full-size 2.7 sqm grave plot.
But I can't...
Plot 121 in the first row.
Total cost is 31.35...
111.30 for decorations,
94 for the sack,
204 for the cover,
21 for the plaque...
8 by 120...
360 and 66.70...
- 33.04...
- 655...
33.05...