Tabu (1988) - full transcript
Story of a tragic love triangle that develops between a mother daugther and a farmhand. A good-looking widow lives alone on a farm with her teenage daughter. Their neighbor occasionally helps them in the farmwork. He would have eventually married the mother, but the daughter tries to seduce him at all costs. He becomes the lover of both women, but eventually runs away leaving the mother shattered and the daughter pregnant.
OKO Film Studio.
I was calling you when I needed you most.
When tears and despair
tore my chest apart.
You!
Never looked towards me
when I desired to meet you.
Now!
I don't want to know you
or to meet you,
or to love you.
I'm leaving you.
STARRING
IN THE ADAPTATION OF THE BOOK
BY TIMO K. MUKKI
TABOO
Screenplay by.
Music by.
Edited by.
Sound.
Production Designer.
Set Decoration.
Costumes.
Make up.
Production Manager.
Cinematography.
Directed by.
Let me try.
You're too big for such games.
I'm not too big.
Go home. Your mother is probably waiting.
Hurry up!
It's a very old coin.
I found it one day.
Take it, Milka.
Why are you back so late?
I was about to go look for you.
Get some bread and butter
from the cupboard.
What's that in your hand?
Show me.
Very well.
Go to bed.
You're so big.
Oh, Lord!
It feels like a sharp thorn
is hurting my heart.
Remove it, oh Lord.
Don't lead me to suffering.
Protect me, so I don't have to
burn with shame.
Enlighten me, oh Lord.
It's good that it rains.
Rain rinses the earth,
cleans it.
If there was no rain
there would be no sun.
Everything's connected.
One thing
depends on the other.
Did you have time to tell your mother?
No, I didn't.
Mother sends me.
- Mother!
Are you sure?
She doesn't know what to do with hay.
It'll rot with all that rain.
Nothing we can do. We can't haul it.
We have to wait.
Why don't you repair the roof?
Rain doesn't fall in, sun doesn't burn.
Rain does fall in.
Take it, Milka.
It's pretty.
What are you waiting for?
I'll wait. Maybe it'll stop raining.
It won't.
Who do you make it for?
For sale.
Can I stay here until it stops
raining so I don't get wet?
You can't.
So I'm going.
Why are you mad?
I long for my father.
Your father rests in peace.
Don't be sad.
It won't do any good.
Such end awaits us all.
You can do it.
If you want to.
You don't like me anymore?
Milka!
Come to dinner!
Wait.
I will be your wife.
I care for no one else.
You're still so young. You have time.
You will meet another man. A good man.
I don't want you. I want to
keep living without a wife.
That suits me perfectly.
My chest is on fire
which cannot be doused.
I shall not ask it to stop burning.
Oh, Lord...
please let it burn.
Goodbye.
Milka! Try on your dress.
Take a walk.
You are very pretty.
Maybe I shouldn't be saying that.
Take it off. It still needs altering.
You'll wear it in the spring.
Krystian, take back the buggy
and say thank you on our behalf.
May I go with him?
You may.
Just be careful not to soil the dress.
If you were my little daughter.
I'd make you a pretty cradle.
I'd keep you warm.
Rock you to sleep,
sing you songs.
You'd be happy.
Someone would remember me.
Even after I'm gone.
I will never love anyone but you.
Come.
It's time for you.
Leave.
I'll leave the meadow now.
I'll make you two something to eat.
Milka!
Don't you like me anymore?
I love you.
I've talked to Krystian.
He'll help us renovate the new room.
And you know what?
He doesn't want any money for it.
Will I get a room of my own?
You will.
Till the renovations are over...
Krystian will be staying with us.
No need for him to walk all this way
just to return in the morning.
Can I live here?
Not just yet.
There is still time.
Maybe you'll move in next year?
You aren't the town's
organist anymore?
No.
After my wife died, I quit my job
and came back here where I come from.
Krystian brought the rocking chair.
He was repairing it for you?
I've made it. It's brand new.
And I'll be the first to try it.
Is it comfortable?
Can I try?
You brought the chair
and now it's time for you to go.
I have a matter to discuss with the lady.
I will think about it.
It's hard to decide on the spot.
I'll give you my answer in a month.
Such an important step
must be considered properly.
I'll be waiting impatiently.
I hope I'll find your answer satisfying.
If the good Lord permits!
Milka,
what would you say
if I was to be your father?
Goodbye, sir.
It's late.
Not that late.
Mother was angry with the organist.
Don't talk about it.
Come to see us.
I will, I will.
Your mother wants
to thank me for the chair.
It is beautiful.
I've made it for you.
I love you.
I!
!love you, too.
Aren't you cold?
I know you want it.
And you don't?
I can! handle it.
I won't die from it.
You've been gone a long time.
He is not angry.
He'll come to see us tomorrow.
See?
He is a good man.
Better than the organist.
Oh, Lord!
Protect me from evil.
You can do it,
for everything happens
according to your will.
Maybe I'll get married soon.
Maybe we'll have a baby.
A brother for you.
You're thinking about the organist?
No. I won't be accepting him.
I'll get someone better.
Though only God knows if I get him.
So, Mila...
I hear you will have a new father, right?
One has to admit that
he is an honorable man.
You're pretty.
Mum doesn't care about the organist.
- Of course, she does.
She doesn't! He's so old!
Milka!
Milka!
Mother, the organist!
I'd rather he stopped coming.
Did you consider my proposal?
I did, indeed.
But what of it?
You think you can have me?
I may be wrong but
you're at such an age that it's not
necessary for you to have a wife.
And my heart lacks feelings
your future wife should have.
You must think that since
my husband died long ago
you'll seize the opportunity,
for I must be desiring a man.
Be it as it may, I don't want you.
And if I'm being frank, I doubt
you will find a woman who wants you.
Maybe someone will push me away
just like I turned him down?
Who would you want?
I'll tell you later.
If God allows and if he wants me.
It all depends on him.
Who would remember about us
if it wasn't for you.
All the others come wanting something.
You're the only one who comes
as a true friend.
But I want something, too.
Very soon!
You will have a father.
Mila!
You're thinking about him?
Yes.
Who would be better?
Milka, what's wrong?
Something happened to your mother?
Don't you like me?
Why are you turning me down?
I am not.
I am all yours.
And yet, you're marrying my mother.
Marry me.
Mila,
do you still have that silver coin
I gave you? You didn't lose it?
No.
You'll put it inside
and push the halves together
so they close.
And they will never open again.
And inside,
there will be your coin.
What's inside?
I don't know.
The sphere cannot be opened.
Maybe he'll tell me.
I just hope!
That nothing bad happens to him.
Go there and see.
Tell him to come.
I have to talk to him.
Wait.
I'll come with you.
Good morning.
I don't see you often.
There's always so much work.
Where are you rushing to?
To the end of the village.
I have a matter to attend there.
Come to see us on your way back.
Milka, come here,
I'll show you something.
I don't have time.
You could go. He's an adult now.
He fancies you. You'd have a good boy.
So!
He left us?
Abandoned us?
Us?
We have each other, Mila.
That's just the way
it should be.
Maybe only the body is weak
and misses him.
Maybe only the body is weak.
But God gives strength
so the soul would be mighty.
So it could fight.
Maybe God knows!
What we
cannot comprehend.
Milka, child!
Wait!
We'll talk.
God be with you, child.
How is your mother feeling?
How is she?
She is fine.
I see.
Maybe she wants me to come?
That's the way it is.
Yes.
You're an adult woman now.
Give my best to your mother.
Remember!
Give my best to her!
Milka!
My little miss.
God punished me
for I was bad to the organist.
But how am I supposed to!?
He is over sixty.
And I'm not even forty.
How could I have married him?
Tell me, Mila.
Did I make the wrong choice?
No.
I wouldn't take him either.
How strange is human life.
You want to do a good thing
and it turns out to be bad.
Sometimes!
A shard of happiness
comes over you unexpectedly
but fate takes it away so fast!
When your father walked
through the village
the girls blushed,
happy that he looked at them.
And I!
Became his without even trying.
But was it for long?
Death took him
so unexpectedly.
He was a good man,
though maybe not as good
as the other one.
Forgive me God for saying that but
apparently there wasn't enough sadness.
And this pain occurs now
to even the score.
Strange is the human heart, Mila.
Just when you think
that it's already fulfilled
it keeps desiring
and is never done.
It's hard to foresee God's judgements.
For God is judging us.
He weighs the good against the evil.
And nothing
can be hidden from him.
I came to ask if you
need help with haymaking.
Why didn't you invite him in?
Mila?
Can't you see the way he looks at you?
I don't care for him.
Mila...
Oh, Mila... I love you.
Why are you like this?
I will marry you.
You won't find anyone better.
Idiot! Let go or I'll call my mother.
Mila!
Milka!
Milka...
Why is your belly like that?
Milka,
who were you with?
I'm not blind.
Milka!
But that's just
impossible!
She didn't have anyone.
She didn't have anyone apart from him.
Maybe!
Maybe it was Stefek who slept with you.
Or maybe Krystian.
How is it possible that you! Milka?
Milka,
you're with child!
Who were you with?
I was with no one.
Tell me!
Tell me!
Did you lie with him?
Did you and him! Tell me!
You visited Krystian often!
What did you do there?
Tell me. Tell me!
What are you thinking about?
Tell me you didn't do anything!
Tell me you didn't!
With Krystian. What is it about?
You gave yourself to him, didn't you?
You got undressed.
Right?
You spread your legs and gave!
Milka!
My Milka!
My little daughter.
I didn't sleep with him.
I gave myself to no one.
I don't know what you want from me.
I lay with no one, no one caressed me.
You are pregnant.
You will have a baby.
I didn't know.
You spread your legs
and gave yourself to him, right?
You don't believe me?
I do.
I believe you.
I wasn't laying!
I wasn't!
I'm carrying a child under my heart
and so I beg you Lord
don't abandon us.
Be a Father!
Be my child's protection.
Don't forsake us. Don't forget us.
You will manage hauling hay.
The weather is good.
I hope you'll manage
with the hay while it lasts.
Is she sick?
She's changed a lot.
Your belly has grown.
Why should people know?
Leave us, Stefek!
And you, Milka!
Leave us for a moment.
I want to talk to your mother.
I have a matter to discuss with her.
Let's sit.
Come to the new room.
- No, come!
Milka, what are you!?!
I know.
You will have a baby!
Who's baby is it?
Krystian's?
Milka.
Milka!
What will you tell me now?
You're talking nonsense!
Mila!
My Mila!
Why didn't you let me kiss you?
Take off your skirt!
It's nothing to you.
Take it off!
We'll have some fun.
Take off your skirt! You bitch!
Bitch!
Bitch!
Maybe!
Maybe! who knows if something's happened.
Don't cry.
It will all turn out all right.
No matter what happens.
Sit down, rest.
I'll tell the landlady
to take those wet clothes.
You'll catch a cold.
My little miss!
- Don't call her.
I won't be staying long.
I'll be on my way soon.
No need to call her.
Is that possible?
Are you with child?
Tell me.
I am.
Yes, I am.
Take me as you wife.
It was probably like this.
You had fun with a boy.
You forgot to be careful.
It happens.
Yes, I can see now.
No.
I wasn't with anyone. I swear.
Why don't you believe me?
Impossible.
Such cases do not exist.
You're mocking me.
I'm too old for such stories.
I am not lying. It's the truth.
Take me as your wife!
Take me as your wife, I'm begging you.
Take me.
Who would have thought?
I asked for a mother,
and I'm getting a daughter.
But how is it to be?
Am I to be a husband so suddenly?
You can lie down.
You can take me.
It's not proper.
How could I?
But, as it can be seen!
I am!
But I couldn't.
I couldn't possibly.
Get up, Milka.
Get dressed.
I see.
Of course I know. That's why.
Drink this.
Drink so you don't catch a cold.
You can still change your mind.
You're still young.
A little miss.
Anyone can see.
Thank you.
Mother, the organist will come to see us.
He gave me that coat.
He'll come to get it.
You didn't tell him I don't want him?
An old fart.
He is a good man.
Him too?
It's possible that also he is a good man.
What about me?
Am I not good?
I will marry him.
Mother!
We have to consider it.
That's good.
Of course, he'll take you.
After all, you're a big girl now.
You know perfectly well
what should and what shouldn't be done.
I was stricken with grief,
you understand that, right?
A human being is a child until his death.
He won't change or get wiser.
It's windy.
Despair can knock a person down
like wind cuts flowers from bushes
and spreads them around unnecessarily.
There is no help. There is no saving us.
There is no mercy for the unfortunate.
I will take him as a husband.
The organist.
That's good.
My poor child!
Maybe it's better this way.
Milka!
Wait, don't go!
I have nothing to say to you.
Mila,
if you promise me something
I'll tell no one that you're pregnant.
Everyone will know anyway.
Besides, I'm getting married.
To whom?
When are you getting married?
To whom?
- You'll see.
Oh, well.
Yes.
God be with you, ladies.
Sit down.
This is where we stand.
It's about my marriage to Milka.
Miss Milka.
If she hasn't changed her mind.
I, well, I thought it through
and I accept.
What say you?
What am I to say?
Milka's state is obvious.
Though she doesn't admit
to being with anyone.
God be with you.
Yes.
God will bless you.
Yes!
God will!
He knows best how it really was.
Who knows.
The Bible teaches us that
something like that happened before.
God works in mysterious ways!
Goodbye.
Milka, wait.
Talk to Stefek. He needs you.
Try reaching an understanding with him.
He loves you.
May Jesus have mercy on us.
That's the way it is.
My darling, God will have mercy.
Milka!
Little miss!
My little wife!
Do you hear?
It's time!
I can't.
I can't.
You're thinking to do it differently?
Do you?
Mila?
Darling.
I'm not mad.
I understand perfectly.
I'm forgiving.
Oh, well.
Maybe you're sensitive.
Innocent.
How should I say it!
It will be winter soon,
and we feel so good here.
Marriage, my Milka!
What can be better than that?
It's where the happiness is.
For sure.
It's a fact.
My first wife is dead and buried.
There is also my name on that gravestone.
We'll all go there.
She was good.
Yes.
Doors of heaven were opened for her.
She surely went there.
I think it's like this:
Marriage is sacred.
Nothing can keep a person
warm like love can.
That's pure warmth.
Do you understand?
Oh, Lord, take bitterness
out of our hearts.
Let the sun shine once more
through our souls.
Don't forsake us.
Bring peace to my mother's heart.
Move away the sea of tears.
Don't forget us.
Who will he look like?
Who knows!
Maybe it's a boy?
He did it.
He put it.
He's so talented!
Or here!
It wasn't easy.
But he managed.
Yes.
He knew how.
He knew how, I know he did.
Not everyone is like that.
He's the best.
He did this all by himself.
Yes.
He knew how.
What's inside?
It's buzzing strangely.
He knows.
He hid his secret there,
so no one can discover it.
It's a strange hiding place.
No one can know what's inside.
But do they have to know?
When will it be born?
I don't know.
You have to know more or less.
It's all right, no use talking about it.
It'll be born when the time is right.
Milka is having a baby.
She's in labour.
Her pain has started.
I hope everything goes well.
I was in labour once
and I have to admit that
I wouldn't want to do it again.
That's how God punishes
people since Paradise.
There must be pain and tears.
Milka!
Milka!
Milka!
Come!
Come here!
Come!
Milka.
Milka.
My son!
My little boy!
Look, that's the table.
This here. It's a table.
Of course he doesn't know it.
A table; It's a table.
Yes, yes.
Of course.
He'll learn when he's bigger.
And here, look! Don't cry. Don't cry.
Look here.
It's a book.
A book.
Just a book.
He doesn't understand that yet.
Isn't he a beautiful child?
My little boy.
My son.
He is like a flower.
His cheeks are like roses.
Like roses!
Just think, in ten years
he will be a big boy.
Strong, honest.
I'm sure he will be.
You can already see it.
He'll be like a hawk.
He looks like it.
Krystian!
We shall meet again.
I might have forsaken my own hopes!
Or are they still!
Are they still within me?
Don't count my sins.
My beloved!
My friend!
He is! so beautiful.
Yes, beautiful.
I went to church.
I met old friends.
I stopped by the vicarage.
He is the joy of my days.
Who would believe that I'd be a father.
He is all I can think about.
My first wife, my darling Mila!
We've tried every night
but she couldn't give me a child.
But you!
In a month, guests will arrive
for the christening.
That's what I've decided.
I'm so sorry.
Could you rub my legs?
I don't want to tire you.
You're tired yourself.
I'm all right.
You didn't want to know me.
You didn't want to take me in your arms.
I've walked away from you.
My spirit returned to me.
My longing made me stronger.
My heart grew strong.
Pain and despair
allowed me to rise again.
I leave you now.
Translated by: Emilia Puszczyńska