Talking Heads (1980) - full transcript

People of different age, profession and social status answer two simple questions: who they are and what they want from life.

TALKlNG HEADS

What is your year of birth?

Who are you?

What do you most wish for?

l am two

-Who are you?
-l'm Waldek

-What do you want?
-Nothing

-Who are you?
-A toddler

-What do you want?
-To be a Syrena car

-Who are you?
-l don't know

-What do you want?
-To paint a house, have a house



l'm an ugly brunette

l'd like to leave school
and have fine babies

l'm not sure who l am,
but l love reading books

l'd like to go to America

l think l'm a little different
from my friends

l'd like the Pope to come to Poland

l'm not yet ready to make
serious decisions

What l'd like most in daily life...

...is for people to show
more respect for each other

People should pay more attention
to each other...

...there should be more love
within society

l'm a bit of an egoist,
l don't respect everybody

Yet l'm a good friend; it sounds odd,
but that's how it is

What would l like?
To change my character



l'd be happier without my bad points

lf l decide on something,
l usually do it

What would l like? l'd like everyone
to do something for others

They work only for themselves,
not others

l'd like them to understand...

...that material things alone
do not create happiness

l was in a children's home

l'd like everyone to have
a happy childhood

Childhood should be beautiful

l'm rather uncomplicated,
no problems, no conflicts

l face life with a smile

l'd like that to continue

l'm a girl who doesn't
reconcile dreams...

...with their practical realization

l'd like to be more certain
about my criteria...

...to know good from bad

l'm a non-problematic dreamer
and optimist

l'd like to escape the town...

...to live with nature and animals

So far, l'm a nobody

lt could last for some time

But l'd like to become...

...what is called...

...a human person

ln the present stage of my life,
l'm still taking, not giving

l'm still acquiring values

l want freedom in the broad sense...

...not just freedom for the strong

l'm a student. l still have time
to make a firm decision...

...which will bind me for
the rest of my life

l do not like the aggression
in people

They hate and fear each other

l'd like to see them fight against
this attitude

l'm a single mother,
l feel alone at home

Here at the clinic l'm
among people, life

l'd like to save a life,
all by myself

l'm an engineering graduate, still
full of moral principles, ideas

l'd like to stay that way

l'm a driver. l'd like Polish people
to work better

l'm an alpinist

Here there's no other way of proving
ourselves, only the mountains

For me, the most important thing
is courage

l suppose l want the same
as everyone else

l'd most like...

...people to conduct their lives
normally...

...unaffected by fear

l'd like them not to be
afraid of others

l've worked in many places.
l've been a clerk

Now l'm an electrician and
l'm very satisfied

l don't think the young should
worry about the future too much

Seize the day

That's always been my philosophy

l consider myself a realist.
What would l like?

To provide a modest, decent life
for my family

l'm a history teacher

The freedom to decide my own fate
matters most to me

l'm a Catholic

l'd like to have my own house,
a nice place to live

l consider myself a humanist

lt may seem unrealistic,
but what l want in life...

...is a genuine introduction...

...of democracy and tolerance

l'm a youth activist. l represent
a youth organization

l'd like to do the same in
the economic field

l'm studying for that

l think l have everything an
average person should have

lt's all right, but l feel
something's missing

l'd like a change, some achievements

l don't know what,
something different

l'm working, but most important,
l have two children

l dislike pushy people

l'd like more heart and wisdom

l'm a father and a civil servant

l think the most difficult thing...

...is to live in accordance
with one's conscience

lt may sound banal,
but it's very hard

l have two children.
l've written two novels

My fears? l've seen an envelope from
abroad, franked with the words:

''The ability to write is
a root of democracy''

l fear the lack of real public
debate. lt's prearranged

A lack of exchange of ideas...

...that's what worries me

Fewer and fewer books,
the conveyors of thoughts...

...may result in what that franked
envelope was about:

the twilight of democracy

l'm a real worker

l'd like people to be more honest...

...and justice to be better

Now that l'm a taxi driver
l feel more free

But l realize that personal freedom
is not enough

To be really liberated and free...

...requires democracy and security

Personal freedom is not enough

l am a chemical engineer.
Now l drink

What do l want?

Nothing. Everything is just fine

Who am l? That's a difficult question

There are so many expectations, it's
impossible to remain unchanged

l'd like to live in a real world,
not one of fiction and facades

l live in Warsaw. l'm a sociologist

l'm a person of some responsibility,
and little sense of humour

Characteristics unhelpful in my life

As for my wishes...

...they're in this order:

Good health for myself
and my loved ones...

...and in general...

...less suffering and humiliation
for people...

...in my country and
all over the world

l'm caught between two mysteries.
One is natural reality

l'm a human being

The second is very strong,
it is my faith...

...my relationship with God

lt makes me happy...

...because l can help others
to be better...

...to be happy

What do l wish for?

To paraphrase a well known
exhortation:

''Workers of the world - unite!''...

...l'd like good people to unite...

...not against somebody, but for good

All my life l've tried not to lie...

...to have an open face

What would l like?

People to be grateful to each other

All my life, l've given

l worked...

....to the best of my ability
and health

There's a competition for
a monument to Slowacki

l'd like to make a good project
for that

l live with my memories: pre-war...

...the underground resistance, the
great reconstruction after the war

Not all my dreams came to fruition

l'd like my sons, or perhaps my
grandsons, to reap the benefits

l'm a humanist...

...in my profession and convictions

l'm convinced that it's
most important to observe...

...human rights and law...

...the right to one's own
views and dignity

As for wishes...

...l wish tranquillity for
the world and myself

l've been a widow for two weeks

Widow of the late Stanislaw

That's all. What do l want? Nothing

l'm one hundred years old

What do you want?

How much more do l want?
To live longer

Much longer

Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski

Photographed by Jacek Petrycki
and Piotr Kwiatkowski