"a film by Martin Duba, his family and friends" "THE FARM KEEPER" "Hi Lucka." "Jirka, Petr, you'll clean the stables in the afternoon!" "Hi Mom." "Hi." "Hands!" "Jeez." "Did you put away your bikes?" "Yeah." "Did Lucka give you some work?" "Nope." "Marie, lunch!" "Leave it!" "I'll do it myself." "Bye Mom!" "Come home before dark!" "Any clients to ride the horses?" "None." "Let's tap the keg." "Okay, I'm opening in an hour." "I took it to the shop three times and nothing." "We thought it was the wires but it keeps lurching." "That's nonsense." "I'm telling you it's the gas." "Last time I looked at it, there wasn't enough gas coming in." "I think it's your fuel injector." "The air gets in the tubes and then it lurches..." "Are the horses fed?" "Are the boys sleeping?" "I'm going to bed." "G'night." "I'll go too." "Did you put away your bikes?" "Yeah." "Any work to do?" "Nope." "Hands!" "Jeez." "Jarmila, keep in tune!" "Hands down!" "Come on, let's go!" "It's poor, my friends." "Your knees, Petr!" "Sit up straight, Jarmila!" "Your knees, hands, heels!" "Let's ride at a walking pace." "Can't you keep your distance?" "Let's go!" "Keep in tune, Jarmila!" "Let's go." "Go." "Hands down!" "Your knees!" "Can't you use your legs?" "Get going, Jarmila!" "Do you have anything?" "Yeah, a vintage but it needs some fixin'..." "I'm going to bed." "G'night." "G'night." "He can fix it up." "It's okay." "I'll buy it..." "Hello." "Are you open?" "Yes." "Take a seat." "Beer?" "Yes." "Here you go." "Thanks." "Can I ask who owns this place?" "You can." "Hello." "Hello." "Mrs." "Kubova?" "Yes." "What can I do for you?" "I was told that you'd be here." "I wonder if I could get a job." "What do you mean "job"?" "Well, I'd love to work here, with the horses or something." "You mean some temporary job?" "Maybe." "What can you do?" "Well, I have managed several farms before." "You've managed farms." "So you must know an awful lot." "Pretty much." "See, I can't afford any help let alone farm keeper so..." "No, wait." "I have a tent and I can cook." "I don't want money." "You want to work for free?" "Yes." "I love it here and I'd like to stay here for a while." "But the work here isn't very romantic." "You must work very hard here." "I know and I'm glad to help you." "You really don't want anything?" "No, really." "Can you tell me your name?" "Frantisek Novak." "This is our new stable." "So far it's full of junk and wood." "This is our work space and we keep horses in this old stable." "Nice dog." "What breed is it?" "Half cocker spaniel half hound." "This is Mina and this is Ali." "They are beautiful horses." "And this is Lucka." "Hi." "Hi." "The bedrooms are upstairs." "The swallows room, Marie sleeps behind the kitchen." "The toilet and the bathroom." "This is where you'll sleep." "It's okay." "I have a tent." "I already said so." "Thanks then." "Marie?" "This is Frantisek." "We've already met." "Marie." "Franta." "Let's go." "Come on, Marie!" "Between the windows are the frescos of the local castles." "It's a miracle that the original stage sets were saved." "My great grandfather was an enthusiastic amateur actor and built this hall in the 20s." "The original curtain with the Prague Castle is from 1925." "It became the cultural center and many performances and balls took place here until 1948." "Then it became the agricultural co-op and you see what happened." "These are my sons, Petr and Jirka." "Petr." "Jirka." "Hi." "I'm Franta." "Do you still use it?" "No, the wiring is bad and it can't be heated." "This is our orchard with apple, pear and plum trees." "Don't you think there's something odd about the orchard?" "It's shaped oddly." "It was originally a Slavic settlement and the legend says that if someone spends the night on the hilltop their life will change, but it can be for better or worse so no one dares to come here at night." "Right?" "You know that story?" "So will you give me some work?" "We can find something for you." "We could put wooden boxes with geraniums on the windows and also something on the stairs." "A miniature tree would work best for the stairs." "Good pickled sausage." "I pickled them myself." "Hey man, who are you?" "I don't know you." "No?" "That's odd." "What the fuck's so odd about it?" "What are you doing?" "Pick a card." "Now shuffle them." "It's this one." "How the fuck did you do it?" "That was cool." "Awesome." "He's a cheat." "He's a magician." "Jarmila?" "What's up?" "Come here." "What's up?" "He's gone." "Where did he go?" "He seemed kinda weird." "He looked pretty normal to me." "You shouldn't have brought him." "But he looked like a decent guy." "Yeah." "Did you check your wallets?" "You're stupid." "Maybe he is a criminal." "Hello." "Hi." "Where did you disappear?" "I put up my tent in the orchard." "I prefer sleeping outside." "Can I wash up?" "Sure but don't splash." "The floor is rotten." "Thanks." "I'm sorry." "Can you help with the laundry?" "Yeah, sure." "This will hold for a while but this needs to be fixed." "Here is the nail." "I have to go check up on Mina." "Lately she's kind of stubborn." "Will you be okay?" "Sure." "Fine." "Ride at a walking pace." "Knees, hands, straighten up!" "Hold Ali back." "Let's go, Mina." "Trot!" "Come on, move it, Jarmila!" "Let's go!" "Your knees, Petr!" "Why should I waste my time here when you don't give a damn!" "This looks awful!" "Knees, shin!" "You can't have your shin by his head, for god's sake!" "Let's go, Ali!" "They're sleeping!" "Don't lean back..." "Thanks for lunch." "You're welcome." "Hi." "Beer?" "You won't have any lunch?" "No, I fast once a month." "You want to stay beautiful, huh?" "You're stupid." "Where are you from?" "From around here." "And you?" "From far away." "I want to go somewhere far too." "I hoped to go to the county town but now I've made up my mind." "I'll go to Prague." "Hi Dad." "Hello boys." "Come give me a hand." "We have a new helper." "This is Frantisek." "Hello." "I'm Novak." "Kuba." "Guys, get your tools and follow Frantisek." "He'll tell you what to do." "Let's go guys." "Do you pay him anything?" "No, come have some coffee." "It's raining." "Let's go in the tree house." "Let's beat it!" "Where to?" "This is great!" "It's cozy." "But you didn't build it by yourself, did you?" "No, dad built it two years ago." "We helped him though." "He even slept here with us." "But he's too big so we didn't sleep well." "He snores too." "But still it was great." "You don't sleep here anymore?" "It's hard to climb down." "I fell once and broke two ribs" "so mom forbid us to sleep here." "She worries about you, you know." "It's nice of your dad to build it for you." "It is but he's too busy now." "We're here alone at Solec." "We don't even see him in Prague." "The past two years he only works." "What does your dad do?" "He sells pianos or something." "At first it was okay." "He bought the horses, built the pub and tore down the old stucco" "but then it went sour." "And he's nervous all the time." "Thank you." "I'll go sleep in the swallows room." "Will you come?" "I'll be right there." "I'll wait for you." "You really have to go?" "It's only Saturday." "I really have to go." "Will you come during the week?" "I have some traveling to do so I won't make it." "How about the weekend?" "Okay." "Bye." "I said goodbye to the boys." "Bye bye." "Good morning." "Hello Frantisek." "They will kill him." "He's nimble." "They're just playing." "Am I supposed to stop him?" "It's his only pleasure." "We'll be at the stable later." "But we've already cleaned it." "But you didn't lay out straw." "I'll go." "I haven't done it in a long time." "That dog bugs the horses." "Are those your songs?" "What songs?" "Those you play in the evening." "How do you know?" "I can hear it." "You sing pretty." "I know." "You're probably a good rider too, right?" "I can coach you, if you want." "No, thanks." "Why not?" "Are you scared?" "I hate when someone yells at me." "What do you mean?" "You mean I yell?" "You wimp!" "Hi Subi." "It's been a while." "Can I post the horse?" "There's no herd for this old horse" "I'm lonely and I'm sad of course" "I'm a grindstone with no knife" "Oh God who will save my life" "No bricklayer lays these walls" "No ice in the freezer's stalls" "Another beer?" "Where you going?" "Far." "I'm a guitar thrown away" "I'm a year without May" "I'm a mill that never beats" "So put me between your sheets" "No fish in this empty net" "No meat in this stew just yet" "He will come to me one day" "And will take me far away" "He is not afraid to fight" "With real bullets and his might" "But I'm still waiting" "And dying of longing" "There's no herd for this old horse" "I'm lonely and I'm sad of course" "I'm a sailboat without a sea" "Oh God who will help me" "I'm a housekeeper without a house" "I'm a bee without a buzz..." "Go!" "Start up!" "This is fun." "Let's play catch." "Have you ever played baseball?" "No, pitch it to me!" "You don't have a glove." "So what?" "Pitch it to me!" "You can't play without a glove." "Why not?" "Throw it!" "Okay." "I'll count to three." "One, two, three." "Soon it won't hurt." "Why did you throw it so fast?" "We said no glove, no play." "But you threw it too hard." "And we were just playing catch." "Don't tell me that stupid ball can go even faster?" "You'd run from a real pitch." "First aid." "Thanks." "You'd be surprised how fast that ball can go." "Do you play for a team?" "Yeah." "I'm in little league and Petr's a junior but we can't play here." "The balls get lost in the grass." "So we play catch in the yard." "It's boring here." "Why?" "You have horses." "You can go swimming." "I would ride the whole summer but Lucka keeps bossing us around so I stopped." "And swimming is boring too." "Dad bought us a boat two years ago but we haven't used it yet." "A boat?" "We can't skate here either." "Skate?" "So it's another yucky summer." "Come here, Mina." "Come give me a kiss!" "Guys stop it and go put away the sawdust!" "Here you go." "I'm going to cut the poles." "Frantisek, please paint the box." "We're out of paint, Mrs. Kubova." "We'll go to town first." "I need plaster and tiles anyway." "Come along and help me." "But yesterday you said that we'd go rock climbing." "We won't make it today, Jirka." "I'm happy we got the sawdust." "This is hard!" "You can do it!" "What?" "Next week?" "Yeah, I have money for food." "Yeah, there is enough hay." "Bye." "We're going back." "Something happened?" "Yeah." "We're out of money." "Can I give you some advice?" "I wonder what." "The sawdust's done." "What else?" "Okay guys, due to money problems, work stops until further notice." "Awesome!" "Petr?" "Can I borrow your ball?" "What for?" "It's a surprise." "Awesome!" "Well?" "Good?" "It's awesome." "It works." "Hey guys, the dorks are here!" "What's up with that claw?" "It's not a claw." "It's a baseball glove." "Oh yeah, baseball." "Hitting the ball with a stick, right?" "It's not a stick, it's a bat." "I bet you it's hard to hit the ball with that bat, huh?" "The hardest is to catch the ball." "What's so hard about it?" "I was the best at throwing the cricket ball in high school." "I bet you two hundred that you won't catch Petr's ball." "One hundred and that little one will throw it." "But you don't have a glove." "You can't catch without it." "To hell with a glove." "Let's go!" "Okay." "That bastard!" "Now you can't play the bass." "How can the ball be so fast?" "But you can hold the cards." "Yeah, I can do that." "You're really good." "I know." "Here is your money." "Thanks." "I didn't think you'd catch it." "I'd have fucked it for a c-note." "Marie, give us another one." "He got the high heat, asshole." "It was your best pitch, Jirka." "I feel sorry for him." "Why?" "It cost you a hundred." "It was worth it." "And I won't let him keep it anyway." "How will you do that?" "You'll see." "I'd love to sleep here." "Me too." "Today we solved baseball, next we'll doze in a tree house." "Guys, time to go home!" "Okay!" "So be good." "We're getting up early." "We're going to bed, Mom." "We'll just brush our teeth." "Where is the tea?" "I'm coming." "Okay." "Good morning, Madam." "Your breakfast, Madam." "What's this all about?" "Guys, are you crazy?" "Come down or you'll fall." "Don't worry, Mom." "We won't fall even if we are sleepy." "What if it breaks?" "Don't worry." "It holds a lot." "What is it?" "I have to try it to find out." "Come on, Marie!" "It's good." "It holds." "Mom, let's go swimming!" "I can't." "I have to make lunch." "Forget lunch." "We can have bread." "No way!" "Sorry, guys, I'm not cooking today." "It's okay, it's just food." "I've never enjoyed this junk so much before." "Jarmila..." "I laid out the cavaletti poles for you but you disappeared." "I'm sorry, we went swimming." "You won't learn riding this way." "I want to go for a real ride, not in the arena." "Me too!" "No way." "You haven't learned the basics yet." "Tomorrow at nine Petr and I are going for a ride." "In that case I'm staying out of it." "Did I go too far?" "No, it's okay." "Great, Mom." "Guys, are you coming with us?" "Yeah." "We'll meet in the grove." "Who will be there first?" "No fair!" "This is twice as long." "You gotta hurry then." "Let's go." "You want to pedal?" "I don't." "What?" "It's great!" "How did you fix it?" "The spark plug had a pit." "The local factory stack's there, the castle ruins" "and over there is the lake." "That's where dad keeps his boat." "Oh yes, the boat." "How come you are already here?" "I guess we took the long way." "Now we'll take the shortcut and they won't beat us." "C'mon, Petr!" "We got no chance." "Let's go then." "Let's go!" "How come you are already here?" "How come you beat us?" "Which way did you go?" "We worked hard, bro." "Come on, give it up." "What do you mean?" "I've had enough." "I thought there was something fishy about it." "How did you make it work?" "Frantisek fixed it." "You don't ride a moped?" "No." "Why not?" "Are you scared?" "Hi Subi." "Damn!" "Do you like my roses?" "Yeah." "I need to water them." "I'll do it." "Leave it here." "Thanks." "Why are you sleeping here?" "I like it here." "You don't know the legend?" "In fact I do." "And you are not scared?" "Nope." "Where are you from?" "I told you." "From far away." "I mean which town." "What about you going to Prague?" "I guess I got stuck here." "Try sleeping here and maybe something will change." "Here?" "At night?" "In the orchard?" "Are you crazy?" "Never!" "I won so I'm not making dinner!" "Marie, sausages for everybody." "I've lost five times today." "If you can't play, then don't play." "You can do card tricks but can you play a real game?" "How about marriage?" "I haven't played it for thirteen years." "Count me out, guys." "Don't worry, we're not very good at it either." "Okay." "But I don't remember it." "It'll come back to you fast." "Shit!" "We're done." "Let's go home!" "Let's add it up." "Make an IOU, I'll pay next week." "It's okay." "I'll pay." "Let's go!" "Look!" "Wow!" "Pretty cool." "Good one!" "What's the plan for tomorrow?" "I've got one." "Great!" "Hurray!" "Guadalcanal..." "Santa Cruz..." "Leticia..." "Madeira..." "Solec!" "Don't do it." "I have to." "Anyone wants more tea?" "I'm going to the stable." "Boys, finish your breakfast." "What do you mean sell it here?" "We won't be coming here anymore." "And what will we do?" "We will go to the sea." "That's what you always wanted." "But we won't have a moped there." "Or Mina and Ali." "Disinfectant, gauze, bandage!" "What did you do on the road?" "But there were never any cars, only cops and the bus." "Where are we supposed to skate?" "Nowhere!" "Save it for Prague." "Lucka!" "I knew she couldn't ride yet." "She might've fallen by the pool." "Mrs. Kubova!" "Mrs. Kubova!" "Mrs. Kubova, are you hurt?" "No, I'm okay." "Let's go." "Where are you hurt?" "He's going to sell the farm." "What are we going to do?" "I don't know." "Let's go home." "We'll think of something." "Dole!" "Mr." "Kuba will be right here." "Where is Mr. Kuba's family?" "They went shopping." "I'm sorry I got held up." "Did you see everything?" "It's very nice here." "I think we'll be back next week." "You've discussed the horses so we can go now." "We'll bring the draft of the contract" "for you to make any changes." "Okay." "Goodbye and thank you." "Goodbye." "Lucka!" "We have to sell the horses." "Find some buyer." "No." "Lucka, you're connected." "You may know a buyer for Mina and Ali." "I won't get you any buyers." "I need to sell them." "Your summer job ends next week." "Marie, you must find a new job." "Mom, don't drink!" "You'll be ill." "Well?" "Are we going?" "What if our lives change for the worse?" "I'm going for it!" "It can't be any worse." "Let's go!" "I'm going to sleep." "Me too." "Good night." "Okay, we'll come back with the horse trailer." "Okay." "The price is fair, too." "That's right." "It's all good so we'll be back." "Deal." "Goodbye." "I'll drive you." "Thanks." "Run, Ali." "What are you doing?" "Your husband sold the horses." "What do you mean?" "I won't give them to anybody." "They'll vanish." "Are you coming?" "Where are we going?" "You'll see." "Hi Subi." "We need to hide the horses." "Come in." "I have no idea where they are." "Lucka isn't here." "My wife doesn't pick up." "This is not right, Mr. Kuba." "This is very reckless, you know." "It's unfair!" "I'm very sorry." "Sorry won't do!" "Thanks." "Can I?" "We ain't playing no cards!" "I don't want to play cards." "I need your help, guys." "Yeah?" "With what?" "I'll give you something for it." "Yeah?" "What?" "What are they doing?" "Put it over there." "Yes, there." "What are you doing in there?" "It's a secret." "Mom, this is great!" "Can I invite some friends?" "Me too!" "It could bring people but it's unlikely." "I'll go take a nap." "Your drawing's good." "Guys!" "Lucka said there's a Xerox machine at city hall." "You didn't give it up, right?" "No!" "Jarmila, could you please help me." "What's going on?" "Come on!" "Hi Dad." "Hi Dad." "Excuse me, please." "What's going on, Jarmila?" "I opened the roller skating rink." "I don't have time." "What's this all about, Mr. Kuba?" "I'm sorry." "Let's go to the kitchen." "It won't work." "I'm sure it will." "You should see it." "They'll come back." "How come they all came?" "The boys put up flyers so people came from all over, even from town." "From town too?" "But we won't be able to heat it up in the winter." "That's not a problem." "They'll warm up by exercising." "Will it work?" "Sure!" "Just trust me." "Okay." "The Solec farm is where we are You can see it's not too far" "There is a good atmosphere Sausages and cold beer" "Bad moods and thoughts pack Deep in your back sack" "Throw the back sack out An easy life you'll go about" "The Solec farm is where we are You can see it's not too far" "There is a good atmosphere Sausages and cold beer..." "Jarmila, sit up straight." "That's good." "Petr, hands together." "That's good." "Keep in tune with the horse." "Remember, inner shin, outer shin." "Keep your balance." "No mistake is visible." "When you make on, mask it." "I'm going to pack up." "Will you help me?" "Petr will make a smaller circle." "Hold her back, Petr so she doesn't step on Ali." "Great!" "Take care, Frantisek." "Thank you for everything." "Goodbye." "Goodbye." "Bye and thanks." "You're welcome." "Bye Frantisek." "Bye." "Look!" "Here you go." "Thanks." "How about you?" "I'll stay here for another year." "Don't go." "I have to." "You know how many farms there are to fix?" "See you." "See you." "It's dad!" "Boys!" "She's pretty." "She's beautiful." "She's a beauty." "She's cute!" "Frantisek!"