Szabadgyalog (1981) - full transcript
Portrait of a young unstable man, unable to find happiness with a woman. Once a factory worker and nurse. Plays the violin, get kicked out of music school. Becomes a disc jockey.
OBJEKTIV FILMSTUDIO
MAGYAR TELEVIZIO
THE OUTSIDER
PHOTOGRAPHY
EDITOR AND CO-AUTHOR
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED
We're men.
Wonders of nature.
The Good Lord is with us.
We see the world as an idea,
So we pray.
And the Lord will have us,
home for Christmas.
A holiday is coming.
I'll be Christmas.
Christmas is coming.
So be easy,
you're better,
we're going home for certain.
That's what we'd like...
What?
That's what we'd like...
The doctor said we're all better
and we can all talk about it,
so we can.
That's what the doctor said,
to you as well.
To you as well,
so let's go.
It's a compromitation and
something to understand.
Getting better is human.
Being ill is human too.
- Here you come.
- For what?
To get your injection.
Why are you molesting me?
I'm not molesting you,
just your injection.
The doctor said I can go home.
He told me you need
an injection.
In that case,
I beg your pardon.
- It'll only take a second.
- A second?
- Just a second and I'll give it.
- Give what?
The doctor said I am free
to go and really better
so no need for nothing,
no injection.
- What are you doing?
- Get your coat off.
What for?
Don't want to.
- And don't molest me.
- Come on, off with the coat.
- Don't molest me!
- Take it easy.
Take off the coat
you need the injection.
I know what the doctor said
and you're molesting me.
Just don't molest me!
because the doctor said...
This fucking injection is
coming, like it or not!
What you want?
Don't molest me!
Just get out of here
and leave me alone.
I'm better.
What do you want?
What do you want?
What do you want?
(repeating)
- That'll be 20.
- Don't have it. They made me drink.
- Just pay up.
- I can't pay nothing.
Pay up or we'll go inside.
Can't pay nothing.
Can't pay nothing.
Just what's on your mind?
For God's sake!
You and your mother anytime...
Come and sit down.
I've a present for you,
a soother.
Put it in your kid's mouth
give it to him,
then it's up to you.
"Because every man's a king
mysterious, secret,
a distant light."
We can choose to be
citizens,
become part of
normal society
to live a life through
like me, for example
though nothing's gone right
for me.
A citizen I never managed
but I managed to live.
Look, I've got kids
and grand-kids.
Too much, isn't it?
Could have been more.
Will be more.
Just think what it is to be
an artist on top of all this...
An artist lives for
what he paints.
For what he can create.
So women are a minor to them
and so are kids.
Great artists like
Beethoven
never married, took
princesses for mistresses
and the young and sweet
and drank, and he pushed
the bed over to the coffee
when he got old
so the maid couldn't
thieve,
and that was Beethoven.
And your young Schubert
saw Vienna shelled by
Napoleon's troops
and had the idea
of having to write
that he should go to fight,
fight against Napoleon
on the barricades,
but the poor man
was oppressed by his father
and by family life.
The family life,
a hearth of discord.
So what do you know
about what'll happen to you
and about what happened
to me?
Living with my third wife
leaving something behind
I've been as good as dead
for a long time.
There are some who say
my heart will give up
and I'll die.
Like I've seen in the street,
crash down like a tree
let out one more shout
and it's the end.
So, as an old man...
But it's really something
to have a child.
I'm not saying it's
the deciding thing,
what I know is that
it's my own child.
Men can manage on their own.
We don't need a woman.
Women are all over
the place,
you need one,
just grab one
hug her and then say,
lady
that was fine, wonderful,
thank you,
but I live for my art.
You'd better believe me.
It's the years in me talking.
- There's been nothing like this.
- True, just sit down.
No kidding, this is serious.
How's it going?
Don't laugh,
this is serious.
I'm serious
and you're in this...
Playing at my own wedding,
you're kidding!
I've got to get home
on the last bus,
or the wife will put in
for a divorce.
Play 'No Romance
in the World of Thieves.'
Aren't those eyes something!
- Aren't they!
- I love this.
Don't hide!
That wasn't right
I want to play it again.
Fallen angel with a pale face
Fallen angel with a pale face
There is no love
in the world of thieves
How's it going kid?
- Want my beer too?
- Thanks. I've got mine.
Now keep it down.
You're with me.
No karate session now!
No karate session!
Come over here fiddler,
over here please.
It'd be better not to talk
about it now.
I don't want to upset you
just leave it for now.
I'll come again soon
and then we'll talk...
See, it's not something
to be fixed up in a minute.
But you came to talk,
didn't you?
Yes, but don't force me
into a situation,
me, I don't want be laid
back...
I don't want to force you,
I just want to ask you.
- I'm tired.
- Look, I know... it's 2 days
since you gave birth...
-... and I want to rest.
... and that it's really wearing
but we haven't been together
for quite a time...
Now because of the kid...
It links us and so I
give up everything and...
... for the little snapper...
the little babby...
... you give him that.
It's used!
Used?
How can you think of giving
a new born babe
a used soother!
The child doesn't need that.
You just take it away!
And I'd like you to leave.
I'm tired and I need to rest.
And you must have seen
it was used.
I can't take it any more.
You're not allowed
to smoke in here.
- It bothers you?
- No, but it's not allowed.
Don't worry about me.
Look, don't light up, you're
not allowed to smoke in here.
So what, all they'll do
is tell me off.
The nurse will put you out,
get rid of the cigarette.
So I'll talk to her.
There's babies here, new mothers,
can't you understand!
- Here?
- yes.
- They're on beds inside.
- Alright, not here...
but put it out.
Although we are familiar
with the facts of the case
I'd like you to tell
the disciplinary committee
what happened and why.
I don't know how
you were informed about
the whole thing,
if it was prejudiced
or if it was because of something
that had happened before
or how objective I was
to justify this disciplinary
meeting.
I feel I've done my job well
perhaps better than others,
other nurses who keep the clock,
don't take a drink
and have better nerves
but don't have the feeling
for this kind of work and...
Excuse me for interrupting
but we just need to get
things clear.
On 15 of the 10th 1979
you got a written warning,
once again, that
you were drinking in public
with an alcoholic patient.
It's on record,
you were drinking spirits
and both you and the patient
became very intoxicated.
If a nurse conducts himself
in such a way
with one of our patients
who broke out
instead of bringing him back
here, it is extremely serious,
even if you only received
a written reprimand.
You got that because
we wanted to see
if you'd mend your ways.
All of this cannot be
accidental.
I'm in two minds here:
he drinks
and is here drunk for work,
his colleagues cover for him
but when he's not drinking
he's a reliable
and good nurse
the patients really like him.
I've spoken to many of them
he's known for a long time
and they really like him.
He understands them,
he helps them
gives them cigarettes,
it's my view we should not
take away
one more last chance
to get himself together.
Since I know András well
I've spoken to him often
about if he isn't able
to give up his use of alcohol
we'll help him to a cure
to treat himself
but he never accepted this,
always replied in the negative.
That's why I do not agree
with the union rep's view
that he should remain here
in this hospital,
we were willing to help him,
he had the time,
he could have done something,
so in my view
he is not fit to remain
in the Health Service.
Hang on! Before we do
some business...
if you have some sort
of pad...
We're not at the races!
What are you shouting for?
Look, the pad, it's fine.
Look at this a sec!
I live here, see?
Here's a little corridor
and this will be your place.
Separate entrance, see,
bring in a girl when you want.
Here's the hall,
here's the toilet behind.
A WC, alright?
Which'll be my room?
This is mine.
And this'll be yours. Right?
Fuck it, why don't you
take care of your things!
Stick it under your arm!
Stop it!
Is it worth giving him a pad?
So tell me when you can lay
the rest of the money on me?
You said you had 7 hundred.
I can't give you more
this month.
Will you have
a grand for next month?
I've got the seven,
are you listening or what?
Shut it, right! Did anyone ask?
You're a pal and that's it.
He's doing the talking,
just give a guarantee, alright?
OK. No problem.
I don't care,
for 7 hundred.
But I can't pay more
than the 7
and the 7 only
if I don't pay my score here.
Let us alone here,
we're talking some business.
András,
if you pay a thousand,
you'll come out well.
He's agreed to seven tons
a month.
I'll guarantee that,
I'll be responsible.
Because I know you so well.
So how does it sound?
Seven month?
- That's fine.
- Right on!
Let's drink on it!
Stay out of it.
I'm not doing
the business with you.
- Life is beautiful.
- Cheers!
It's all fixed, look after your
stuff, see you this evening.
See you here in the pub.
Bye! All the best!
It's heavy, all the same.
Aren't you eating?
Have something.
- This is what makes life fine.
- I've been offered stuff before.
I don't need it. I'll drink
booze, it doesn't change me.
I might get stupified,
really drunk.
Try this!
Shit!
- That does it?
- There you go!
Slowly!
Great...
That does it...
If it were any better
it would be out of order!
Just come here!
What I saw was terrible,
see what I mean?
Maybe I shouldn't
be saying this
but the lack of discipline
around here, the lack...
I go to the school
and standing at the corner,
are these girls, 16 or 17,
screwing in public, see,
or I go along the corridor
and I have to close my eyes
you'd have to grab them by
the balls or whatever, see...
Take a whip or a rod,
teach them like animals...
and the worst thing was
when I'd had enough,
over they came,
there's no French, no Italian,
who are you?
French and Italian teacher.
We don't need, why do we
need any French here?
I'm not from here... Can't
stand the people here,
I come from the Great Plain.
See what I mean, almost
learned the language,
it's not my language, see.
See, they asked me over
because there might be
a job in the school.
So, two hours a week?
A joke, see.
But I, more or less fine
I'm building my house,
I'll show you, you'll see.
That takes the whatsit,
the money.
We go around the place
making music
you have to get used to it,
I can't...
The music bit is good
it relaxes you.
There's money in it,
relaxing you.
You intend to stay here,
you're not the type
to work for two days
then goodbye... you know.
Well, not two days,
but three.
OK. You'll see...
What do you mean, three?
How long can anyone stand
this racket...
I stand by the machine,
and the weight on it...
You have to watch out there!
And if I forget something,
down it comes on my foot.
You have to watch out here
for the people too, awful...
so like when I was in
the school...
- Three days will do, but...
- More than three days.
I've been working a year
and a half in this shit,
in this shit.
And I still don't know
how to start it up.
Well, maybe that's
an exaggeration
but I want you to see
how I see the work here.
Now the guys who work here,
know what?
I see you've really
caught on!
- What are you laughing at?
- You've caught it all on.
You just push one button:
zzzzzzz...
you push another:
no zzzzz...
You can't start it
after two years?
If something goes crunch,
I call in three guys.
So you take...
you can believe it,
I think that here
you can see the state I'm in,
or if you like,
my way of...
So I hate all of this.
The way it is.
Sorry, I know we're eating
but this is a load of crap,
everyone just sticks
their snout in, they work,
earn their crust, me too.
And that's it.
Three shifts, in I come,
zzzzzz...
and I'm off. It's all shit,
get the money and I'm away.
Off to build the house.
That's how it is.
What have you got
to laugh at?
It's serious.
Or the way I tell it?
That's it.
The way I tell it.
I'm letting myself go a bit
because I'm eating.
Always been like that,
if I'm hungry
I'm uptight before
I'm chewing,
now I'm chewing,
there you are, I let myself go.
When you eat
you let yourself go.
When you're having a crap
on the... sorry, we're eating...
you can let yourself go a bit
on the seat.
But never at any other time.
And those little whores
who strut up and down,
even in the school,
with a machine gun,
just like animals...
Don't laugh!
That's the way it is!
Come one, eat up.
Has it gone cold?
Don't you want it?
So are you going to laugh
like this everywhere?
You're just out
of a madhouse.
Now I can believe that.
In there they laugh like that,
against the wall; hee-hee-hee.
So eat up.
We've got to go right now,
got to get back.
Yeah, the siren's going off
any minute.
That's shit too.
Hate it.
I'm 34 years old
and I howl like an animal.
Just think about it...
Eat up.
How's it going, old fella?
- Like it, do you?
- Cheers!
Do you know what Villon
suffered from?
He struggled and...
and battled against society
and nothing at all changed.
And he struggled against
his own poverty.
Aren't we like that too?
Villon and...
I'm sorry.
Sorry for what?
In that case it's over.
Come and sit with us.
Lads, can I take a chair?
Thanks.
- Here you are.
- Thank you.
You haven't touched my beer.
Lads, you are gentlemen.
I put something on for you.
She's with me.
- I'm Kata.
- She's called Kata.
- To him too.
- He's my brother...
Them's them, I'm me.
- Tell me about the women.
- There aren't any.
There's fat men,
ugly and drunk.
Where are the fatties?
In East Germany.
Not fatties,
just beer bellies.
- You were in East Germany?
- I did my time there.
So, where have
you appeared from?
I mean,
I used to be a regular
and your face is new.
I bought the bike
to get around with.
- And what do you want here?
- I don't want anything.
As I was just saying
they said they had no need
of me there.
- Then there's need of you here.
- I wasn't making real money!
Whatever I got,
whenever I got paid,
my mates were all lined up,
you owe me this much,
I was handing it out,
know what I mean?
So what did you do
with the money?
Ate and drank, lived well.
What do you think I am?
Lots of women, eh?
No, not really.
- That's what I heard.
- So what did you do then?
So if there were,
I wouldn't be here.
Tell you in detail I was good
and they were bad?
Not interested,
leave me alone.
If you don't like it, then I'm
not at your table next week,
won't even know you,
piss off!
- Go and fuck off!
- So what's up with you?
Once when I was playing
Long long ago
I'd like to play for you
From my heart and true
I'd like to play for you
Still living is the old gypsy
The old gypsy,
crippled gypsy...
I'm an alcoholic.
But not lit up now.
But may the Lord give you
two jobs
just like me!
And then they can wait for you
for five hours to turn up!
In a society
of cultured men!
Budapest is a world of wonder
you can't take them in
no way at all...
Here's a message
for Budapest.
Because we represent the Paloc,
a people to ourselves.
We represent Madach
and his Tragedy of Man
and we can be proud of where
Madach was born.
- In Csesztve.
- Csesztve? He's rotting there.
Sorry.
Madach wasn't born there.
See...
don't you think at all?
That's why you all annoy me.
In the town of Felsosztregova.
And the other thing?
You don't know anything
about it.
You could be proud of it,
... a message for Budapest...
You know what
The Tragedy of Man is?
The actors in Budapest
know all about this tragedy.
They know about it in
Budapest.
Not just in Budapest,
all over Europe,
all over the globe, they know
The Tragedy of Man.
May the Lord not let you
take the way home!
It's just like
what they play at home.
You don't need to go home.
Just go and rot away!
My heart for ever!
Just put the fiddle down.
- Here's the cop. He'll fine you.
- She's no gypsy.
Here's the police.
Kata, come on!
You know Romanian songs?
You just go your own way,
follow your head,
wherever you feel good.
Since we're here
you can get me a beer
and at least tell me
to go to hell... to hell.
Stop messing,
you don't understand nothing.
It's not that at all,
all I said was...
You said you didn't get
enough sleep. That's it.
You know I could
say the same any time.
Or just say you don't fancy
anything at all,
so you can piss off...
just because your brother
is home,
because I'm the bro and
we just look at each other.
I asked what happened.
OK, you were asking me...
What can I say?
That's how it is.
Three years isn't that long.
That's how it is.
So far.
You're right there
because those three years,
out of the three years,
I wasn't here I was there.
Still it was three years
and I didn't know about here.
Can't have been much since
the town is still standing
the pubs haven't been closed
and the rest... so what...
At the most a couple of people
are out of circulation.
You complete each other...
He was in a Home too
we didn't know anything
about each other.
Nothing, then just like that,
I knew him...
I was twelve years old when
it turned out
we were brothers.
You didn't know you had
a bro until then?
I didn't, but he was
really great
he was down there waiting
when they called
and that's how they did
the great meeting.
Well not great, but
at least we were brothers.
I don't like him,
because we're brothers
but because I've got
to know him.
Well, I wanted to tell you
it's interesting.
I played a concert
my teacher accompanied me
on piano...
the piece had two
or three sections,
I don't remember exactly,
and so they were all repeated...
Anyway I had
to repeat them, so,
at the start I forgot
to repeat the first
then came the next,
three times...
At the end
I jumped back to the beginning,
then the third,
I forgot the section and then
I mixed the whole thing up.
I could just about manage
to finish... I had to,
the audience was there...
all sitting there
and somehow we finished,
I took my bow, the lot.
I was just little...
and they applauded,
maybe all of them
didn't realise what happened.
Then more bows, applause,
the lot.
Off we went and the way
my teacher closed the door
I got the biggest thump...
A concert to remember.
Yes...
a concert that stays
within me.
Doesn't matter.
It was a long time ago...
Anyway I gave all that up
and did something else.
I didn't have an instrument
so I didn't play.
But I'd like to get
a band together.
See, I don't really want to
go into a symphony orchestra.
Truth to tell
they wouldn't want me.
But I don't fancy it.
Why wouldn't they want you?
They wouldn't want me
because
they're all trained,
got their diplomas...
You wouldn't like to study?
I went to a conservatory.
I may have run out of time
at the age...
I went to Debrecen
to the conservatory
the proper school.
I managed to do two years.
Then I left,
in fact I was kicked out.
You've been kicked out
of everywhere?
That's a good question.
And the answer?
What would that be?
The answer will have to wait.
My Dad's over in Canada.
He wrote me letters,
that I know. And that..
he sent me money too.
Ten grand.
And those bastards
knocked it off,
the wardens there.
So I didn't get it.
Nothing at all?
Sod that.
It's not the money.
Ten grand.
What's ten grand?
Nothing.
More than nothing
I think it would come in
handy now.
Yeah, it would be handy
for a week.
What would you spend it on?
What would I spend it on?
I'd get a good violin
that'd be fine,
I can get one for not that
much
with a bit of luck
you can get one
for three or four thousand.
- And the rest of it?
- Violins are getting expensive.
The rest of it,
I don't really know...
I'd to pay for the room
for the next month
the month after too.
Then the rest, that'd go in the
pub. That's the way it'd be.
I'm sure.
That's the only place you
spend your money, the pub?
OK, I'll go to the cinema,
say,
if there's something
good on.
And after that, you need
to have a good time.
- Just a bit, a bit...
- A bit?
I have a son.
From Anna.
Yours?
You say it like that,
no kind of preparation?
That doesn't need
any preparation.
We were talking about
something else.
And now you spring this.
That's it.
If that's true,
then that's it.
It doesn't bother me,
he's a lovely little kid.
When I went to see him
the other day,
that was it,
early
in the morning,
when I went across the room
he was sleeping
the noise woke him up,
he raised the head,
grabbed hold of the cot
pulled himself up
and started to
clap.
No, at first he waved,
and
I showed him how to clap.
And then he started to clap
so he's doing things like...
so he's a lovely little kid.
Lovely.
And his mother?
That's another story,
another thing altogether.
Rather the kid than her?
If I was interested in her,
I wouldn't be here.
So, with her, no.
It was just impossible.
So, with her,
it wouldn't come together.
She's just so different.
It's just...
it was a big surprise
but I'm glad you told me.
It's always better
to know now than later.
It's strange, but I'm not
really upset.
Even if you've got a kid
you are still you.
For me.
So what do you want
to know?
You like someone
who wants to know something.
No, I'm just looking at you.
What's so funny?
Maybe it's the whole thing.
So here we are, looking
at each other and...
What's up, what's up boy?
Drink up, that's it
you're yourself at last.
Have one.
At the abattoir,
you couldn't get me something?
The start? You're not
in a decent place?
Pull the cable, wind it up.
There's money there.
No money in our place.
- The hell there is.
- You got to work, pal.
You've got something
to work for.
You've got a wife,
a kid.
- That's it.
- And so?
So now I've a wife and
before there was just the kid.
Just why do you want
to come to the abattoir?
Because that's where I am?
Don't come because of that.
But you just said,
with a kid and a wife...
I've got my food
your wife feeds you,
You're married aren't you?
Two of you, two wage packets.
She has the time to cook
for you.
- But don't forget the kid.
- The kid's not yours.
- Is that kid yours?
- Of course it's mine.
Yeah, they're taking the
support out of your wages,
as long as a kid's a kid
but it's not a kid
because I'm paying for it,
it's not a kid
because it's my kid.
It's my kid because I formed
it. I give it it's grub.
Why shouldn't it be my kid?
Are you trying to say
it's not my kid?
- It's not yours.
- Don't act the maggot.
- Don't tell me it's yours.
- Do I care whose it is?
- It's my kid or it isn't.
- I recognised it as mine. So?
Recognise it, there you go,
and the wife too.
All I asked is,
where you work,
is there something for me,
a bit more money to make,
I've got to pay the support,
and me and the wife
have got to live too.
Don't pay the maintenance
just take the kid home.
But how can I do that?
Is it your kid or mine?
- You're so uptight.
- I'm not uptight.
I know there's
something up with you.
OK, but you go over to us...
if I snatch your kid
a bit of sausage
or a side of bacon...
and if I get done,
I get done by myself.
If you get done you, even
the fool on the hill is done.
What's up with my wife?
Nothing with me and her,
she just isn't in my picture.
OK, she is in my picture,
so is the kid.
So don't come to me,
do your own thing,
your own life, yourself.
You didn't come to me,
I won't go to you,
I won't go to you for advice.
You do what you want!
You're on your way.
And if you're on your way,
be on your way.
Anyway I don't give a shit.
Come on.
The notary fell for one girl
the notary...
The other laughed and laughed
Because his deputy loved her...
You haven't answered my question.
What was it?
Sorry, I'm out of it.
What were they on about
just now?
Just talking, you know?
Ah, it doesn't really matter
what they were on about.
It does matter, I'd like to
know. It really does matter.
I'd like to know if Csotesz
has a problem with me,
or if it's because András
got married...
That's it.
András took a wife.
- So that's his problem, is it?
- Yes.
Not his. Mine.
Yours too and Csotesz's.
Isn't that it?
- More or less.
- So what's the problem there?
You once made me a promise.
I did? What?
About a year and a half ago.
The point is
that I counted on you.
- On me? - Yes.
- You're not the only one.
Don't think so much
of yourself.
You have to choose one day
and I made my choice.
- You can't go on...
- You're right.
Out of all the men in your life
you have to choose one, right?
So I chose
and I chose András.
I tried all kinds of things too.
When I made my choice,
I thought
it was a good one
but now I feel strange.
I can believe that.
Because I thought...
that it all happened
because of me...
You want some stuff?
Sorry?
You'll have a good life.
You think so?
It would be good if it could.
God, it's still raining.
If only that'll be
the biggest problem.
Who bought the ring?
András?
Well, I didn't.
- Wouldn't you?
- It was thick of him.
So you're here again.
My God...
Just don't go too much on it.
I'm sorry,
we met once or twice,
so don't be angry with me.
Not at all.
Nothing to do with it now.
Try some.
It's really good.
Don't like it.
I don't want to wind you up
but that's it...
You're like a wooden puppet
who isn't really here.
I say my bit
you're looking anywhere
paying no attention at all
to what I'm saying.
- So... - I think
you're cold, aren't you?
I try to concentrate
but it doesn't always work.
It bothers you,
I can see that...
Excuse me.
You think that by marrying
András, you're doing better.
- You mean by him marrying me.
- Isn't it the same thing?
Otherwise the whole thing
wouldn't have happened.
Doesn't every one want to
have their own life?
- No argument there.
- It depends on the parents.
It may not be the best idea
to rent a place to live but
I won't have to get up
at dawn.
If you get on with each
other...
I hope we'll get on
with each other.
- Where's András working now?
- In the Cable plant.
It's the pits that place,
I was there once for a month.
Perhaps
it was your attitude.
You're right,
it all depends on attitude.
That's it.
- Eat.
- Don't!
You don't have to eat.
Excuse me.
Life is fine.
Because of this?
Oh God!
- For the first and last time.
- I thought so.
Oh the judge's horse
has died
Flog away the judge too...
Oh Lord of life,
Giver of Bounty
always with flowers
we bid farewell
to he who we accompany
on his final journey.
The flowers upon his grave
that soon will fade
tell us
that for this young man
spring will never come again
nor fruitful Summer.
The Autumn of his life
will no more be gilded
by the happy memories
of work well done.
Comfort, O Lord,
those who turn to You
believing in Your bounty
and help them understand
that it is perhaps from a
future of hardship and sadness
that You have saved our child
through his premature death.
Only You know, O Lord,
the storms that were yet
to break over his life
the worry and tragedy yet
to fall on him
if he had remained
on this earth.
You know, O Lord, the dangers
You spared him
when You called him to You
so young.
Life is short. In the time
You give us
allow us so to work
that our labour bears fruit
in abundance and
in eternity.
Through Christ Our Lord.
Amen.
This is not right.
We have our own life
to consider, not theirs,
there are more important
things than that.
And bigger problems.
Right?
That's what you said
yesterday too.
Well, am I not right?
You're right,
but it isn't that simple.
But if we just mediate,
nothing's changing,
besides my working time
is not for sitting here
and talking about Balázs.
Don't be insensitive, alright?
I'm not being insensitive.
Not at all,
I'm sorry for the guy
but I can't do more than that.
He was my friend and
that's what really hurts.
But is doesn't hurt that I'm
always having to count the cash?
And however I count it
there's never enough.
Well, we get by.
Don't you want to live
better than this?
This isn't a life,
it's just vegetating.
Of course I want
to live better, but...
we're just complaining...
It's me who concentrates on,
if you really want to see,
5 thousand for the two of us.
7 hundred goes for the room
that leaves. 4.300,
on that you're paying 1.000
for the child support
when it should only be half,
so that leaves only 3.300.
What do you mean,
only the half?
It's a thousand you have
to pay on child support?
So what's up
with that thousand?
We could have another 400
and put it to better use.
We'll find something soon,
no need to make...
- Soon, soon, soon.
- ... a fuss.
Soon when?
The Cultural guy said
the centre has bought the gear
and I can run a disco there,
I'll get paid for that, I think.
They didn't say how much...
That's not going to get
us far.
But it's something.
It's money.
No worry.
We'll be all right.
That won't fix things.
Things will work out,
you'll see.
You clock off, go off
and have your beer
- and forget about the whole
thing. - You need to do that.
Only if you can afford to.
And we can't.
Go on this way
and we'll never
have any nest egg.
I don't want a nest egg
and I can't take it
from the kid,
and if we moved in with
your mother...
then
it would be all over
within a month.
What do you mean by that?
We'd be going there to save
700 a month
or more.
Exactly.
And then it's goodbye
and then we'd be looking
for a room again?
But we'd have something
to start with.
I don't see why
you have a problem with that.
Sorry, I have to run.
OK, see you this evening...
Count Erdődy presented him
with a carriage
for one of his symphonies,
he heard one of them,
and he gave him the present
of a magnificent carriage.
Prince Miklós...
built his first house
at Kismarton.
Burnt down again and again,
he always rebuilt it,
out of his own pocket,
his own deep pocket,
rebuilt Haydn's house.
Beethoven saved money
by putting coffee beans
aside.
Why?
Because he didn't want
humiliation.
He never for anybody...
He worshipped Napoleon
but when he had himself
crowned,
he withdrew his dedication
of the Eroica to him,
that was it. Napoleon was
no longer a person for him.
Beethoven and Goethe once,
in Weimar,
ran into the kinglet,
prince of whatever,
Beethoven went by
as if he hadn't been there,
Goethe made a humble bow,
"my good Prince"...
paid his respects,
made his court,
Beethoven, just like the air,
went on his sweet way.
I'm Beethoven, I am,
there's only one of me,
princes in Germany
there's dunghills of them.
But Schubert, when Boney
was shelling Paris, no, Vienna,
So, Vienna...
this was after Austerlitz,
they'd won but Vienna
was still resisting, not much,
a shell hit a wing
of the Konviktus
so Schubert swore to write
a symphony against Napoleon,
well, at the time, all he
managed were Lieder.
Haydn was still alive
then living happily,
Beethoven was already dead,
Mozart long dead,
Haydn was alive and his
servants were scared
to put it simply,
they were shitting themselves
because the shells,
they had them at the time too,
they're more dangerous now,
so he called all his servants -
at that time
he had a house near Vienna,
built with his own money,
because he'd made a stack
in London, his usual way,
selling the same work,
several times
then writing outraged letters
about these pirated works,
I can't do anything -
I'm no policeman.
The hawks...
So Haydn called
all his servants,
he should have been dead,
his wife was already dead,
Policelli his son was dead,
Luigi Policelli,
who was his son,
he'd helped him, wanted
him to be a musician,
he didn't have the talent -
so he called the servants
and said to them
calmly:
Ladies and Gentlemen,
my servants,
be at ease for
where Haydn lives,
no bomb will fall
and if one does
it will turn around
and soar to the stars.
Perhaps he didn't put it
like that,
I can't recall exactly,
the point is...
they did calm down
because they had such trust
in Haydn,
where he is,
no bomb would be,
and there was no bomb
and he was right.
- How much do you want?
- 4.200.
That leaves me 800
but I'll give you the rest
and you can pay it back
bit by bit.
Just wait, I'm looking
for something,
where's it gone,
I almost forgot,
before you go
just wait, here it is.
Now,
count it
I'll leave a couple
it's more than you asked for,
count it, see if it's all
there.
Careful, make sure
you've got it right.
András!
- It's Csotesz, my brother.
- So what, stay here.
- Got to let him in.
- No.
Kata!
He'll think we're not here,
don't bother with him.
Come on, open up!
- Don't bother with him.
- I'll open the door. - No.
- He'll freeze there.
- He'll get fed up and go.
He should've thought before
about where he's sleeping.
- But in the position he's in...
- Sure, only here.
András,
I'll die out here!
Stay there.
- We can't do that.
- Why not?
It would be cruel.
He's already left once.
I can't do that to my brother.
I just want the two
of us to be here.
Don't bother with him.
We're not going to look after
him for the rest of his life.
We don't have to look
after him.
I know him.
Folks! We're here to talk
about the works norms.
As you know,
in the last year
a lot of foreign machinery
has been acquired
and in the last period
productivity has been
at 150 to 160%.
This is catastrophic from
the salary point of view
we can't pay the bonuses,
nor the end of year bonus
and our social benefits
and services
are being paralyzed.
Now we are going to take
a series of measures.
We ask all our colleagues
to work at an even tempo,
not loafing around
or showing off tempos,
we want
to establish the norms
on an even tempo.
We ask all of you to adapt
to these circumstances.
Thank you for your attention
you may go back to work.
Christopher Columbus
Santa Maria...
Then came the day
With fever in the brain
Take us all away
If we discover America...
Maria...
Santa Maria...
I want to talk to you,
listen,
I want to talk to you!
Yes.
Is it true what you wrote
on the note at home?
Of course it is.
I wouldn't do it for fun.
- But it's awful.
- It was for me too.
Why can't you take care
of money?
It happened.
What to do?
It could happen to anyone.
But if you get something
from a mate,
you look after it.
My mates, always my mates
you have a problem with.
Yes, I've had enough
of your mates.
Tell them, not me.
It's not their fault
you are like this.
No thanks.
Try to listen to me,
will you?
- I'm listening. Go ahead.
- I can see you really are.
You've been acting the
clown all your life.
Am I right or not?
No, I don't feel
that's right.
- I don't understand.
- I don't feel that's right.
What can't you understand?
It's hardly worth starting,
we were talking about it
yesterday.
And if I say you're paying
1.000 in support for the kid,
I have to stop because
we've already talked about it,
yet we came to no conclusion.
That's the kid's,
leave it out.
Everybody's laughing at you,
they know it's not your kid.
I know everybody knows.
So why don't I have a kid?
Was half the town there
to watch me on the job?
Everybody knows it's
not my kid
but nobody knows whose is it.
You think you're being funny.
Sure,
I'm a funny guy anyway.
It's a pity I didn't know,
we wouldn't be in this state.
Maybe you're funny to them,
not to me you're not.
Who cares about them?
Who cares about them?
- You don't care about me
either. - That's true.
- That's true.
- I don't care about you.
So that's fine.
That's what you think,
I don't.
I didn't marry you
to give myself more problems.
I thought it would go better.
And I was so very wrong,
this isn't what I wanted
out of marriage,
this is shit,
not a marriage.
before, I didn't have to worry
about things like this.
But you simply don't care
about all that.
I don't see anything
tragic in it.
You're just completely blind.
- I don't see anything tragic.
- So what do you see
that's fine? For me
it's awful, just awful.
- I don't know what you want.
- I've had enough of you!
I don't know what you want,
to stroll down the street
making our little plans,
like two turtle doves?
I can't hear what you're saying
because of this racket
and you don't give a fuck
that I don't understand a thing.
Instead of playing your fiddle
you're shouting out this crap
and impressing the girls,
you'd better to take it
and do something intelligent.
I don't know
why they call you "Beethoven".
You enjoy arriving
somewhere
"here I am,
Beethoven"
but you're just...
really just a helpless slouch.
A guy who's impossible
to live with.
You can't manage anything.
In one ear and out the other.
- That may be a way out.
- Maybe, and I'll do it.
Go ahead and try.
I have to, if something
is going to come out of it.
You absolutely don't care
about anything.
Give me a cigarette.
How can anyone
be like this?
I don't even know
the word to describe you.
You're just not interested
in anything.
Just your beer and having
a good time with your mates...
What do want here and now,
we can talk later.
You don't even want
to talk to me for five minutes.
Look, I can't leave here...
If someone wants to get
something, they go for it!
And somehow
there's always a way
but you don't want anything!
- We'll talk about it later!
- Later, always later!
Go and sit somewhere,
or wait or whatever.
I'm not waiting for you,
I've had enough,
understand?
May I ask you,
just for a couple of minutes,
to come over to the other room
where some ideas
about the new club
can be talked about.
You're saying you don't
like living in the country,
that they live better
up in Budapest,
you get the money
but it's a bit on the thin side.
I don't know
what people think...
what's up with you,
how you're thinking,
if you're thinking about
going up to Budapest to work.
I'm not saying,
up you go there to work
because if you can get
that money here,
if you can get it here,
it's not worth going up there,
if you count the travelling,
you're far from the family...
So there's no advantage
between the money and the...
I think between
coming and going,
and being far
from the family
the pay doesn't cover it.
And the hostels there,
they've got the bunk beds,
all made of iron, you've
got to climb up to them,
then you get a good kick
onto whoever's below
what's up, he'll say,
just climb up properly.
Climb up properly,
easy to say,
you say something
maybe he doesn't like it,
then he spit
a few words at you.
That doesn't go down well
with me or the others
when there's someone
putting on the light,
someone putting it out,
keeps opening the door,
arranging his stuff here,
there, going to bed,
that's not for me,
I made up my mind
I'm coming home.
The money's not enough,
same thing at the job
that's work too, that is,
doesn't matter what you do,
welding or metalworking,
in the forge or with
sheet metal,
a factory hand
has to do the lot
do what the boss tells him,
if it has to be done,
then it has to be done.
Because I can't say
that I won't do it.
All day at a machine
that shakes and shakes,
work,
home in the evening,
have a wash,
a bite, bed.
I don't fancy it all.
You want to quit it?
Ah, I'm coming home.
At home, I know
that after work
the co-op bus takes
you home,
and if I have the time,
I dig, I plant,
I water the garden
or I do what has to be done,
I do all that when
I'm home with the family.
If I go to bed,
get up half an our later.
Up there in Budapest
I have to go way out
or to some other place,
I have to get up an
hour earlier, or two,
to be on time,
and when work's finished
the whole trip
all over again.
What I'm sorry about is
he didn't leave sooner.
Or that I started up
with him at all.
You started, not me.
That's how it started.
That's true.
Because when it started
it didn't start like this.
So what.
This is good like this
and it may get better,
not worth meditating on
how it would be
if it wasn't like this.
Now this is how it is,
if it's like this
then it's the best.
So not worth mediating on
about it.
Good for me,
strange,
but good.
Maybe good because strange
or strange because it's good.
Time will tell soon enough.
We've got to talk about it
all the same...
I don't want to end up in
something uncomfortable...
It's not a question of
what you want.
You say uncomfortable...
This is not uncomfortable.
If it's uncomfortable
put the pillow under you.
This is not uncomfortable.
So it's not uncomfortable.
So it's good,
comfortable the way it is.
Move your arm.
You always stub that out,
never notice it.
We don't...
But not uncomfortable is
uncomfortable,
just put up with it,
get used to it.
András Bader
P.O. Box 3248,
is to report for
military service,
failure to report
is a serious offence,
You are to bring...
Bring membership cards
of the Party or Youth Party.
It's better to be easy there
about all this.
You shouldn't take it hard
even if it's all a load
of shit.
We'll have time
to think it over
to see what'll happen .
You know as well as I do
it hasn't been a bed of roses
and to do this all over again
would be really stupid.
We'd have to change
something, somehow.
I know you wish for the best
but the way you say it...
What have I said wrong?
- Doesn't matter.
- Of course it does.
Sure, it won't be good
if I say it wrong,
but that's how I feel.
Maybe you're right.
Maybe.
I'd really like to have...
children.
I've nothing against that.
Not because
we 'd get a flat
easier that way, but...
Sure. I know what
you're thinking.
And I'm not against it,
yeah but...
- Never against nothing.
- ... but it's so stupid.
- What's stupid about it?
- Well this.
We can't change nothing
there.
We were just talking about
children and then...
So I just sit here and look
at those damn call up papers?
Don't look at them
they're just absurd.
Now we're planning a kid
and we won't be together
for two years.
I can't feel different
from you.
But we can talk about
what's happening two years on.
In fact we have to talk.
I don't see why
you don't think it's
important.
It doesn't get to you at all?
All you say is
yes, yes.
Nothing to say?
- I can't...
- That's not much.
That's not much.
We should make a move.
Come on.
Ladies and Gentlemen
guests of honour,
my good friends,
allow me to greet you
most warmly
our honoured guests
on behalf of the people
and citizens of our town.
Now I'd like to raise a glass
to our friendship
and to it's becoming
faster and deeper in the future
in all fields, cultural,
social and sport,
Your very good health.
Our very good health.
I just remembered
a good gypsy joke.
Dezső, the gypsy is walking
down the street at 11 pm,
carrying a big bag.
A policeman comes up, he says:
Dezső, what's in the bag?
Crows, officer, he says.
It's just crows, sir.
Oh yeah? Show me.
He didn't want to at first,
but he had to spill them out.
Turns out, they were chickens.
Dezső, these are chickens!
Chickens?
In that case I don't want them.
- Good one!
- Cheers!
Hey, Jancsi!
If you don't mind.
Would you do me a favor?
Go ahead.
Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2....
just like Ede Reményi,
our great compatriot played it
in Hamburg in 1853.
With such fire, such power.
You know,
with such musical finesse.
Play it for me like that, please.
I'll be forever grateful.
My Slovakian is rusty.
But my mother is Jolán Hugyecz,
my father is Kázmér Rezeda.
I can't...
I feel the two are one.
My dear friend Kázmér,
please leave our guests for now.
- All right.
- You'll have a chance later on.
One day I'll present this city.
- All right now.
- See you.
Bye, old chap.
Rooting for your son.
He's bound to be a huge talent.
Money can't buy this.
Only a painting can.
We thank the residents of Balassagyarmat
for their help in making this film.
MUSIC