"Are you asleep," "Teresa?" "Your dog will get rabies." "He's been bitten by a mad dog." "It's an epidemic." " Today's the first of September." " So what?" "I'm in a hurry." "Your rent." "Haven't seen a penny since June." "My wife gets paid today." "She'll pay you." " Bloody driving!" " Hush, it's the Police!" "He had a feel!" "The swine had a go at your wife." "You'll let him get away with it?" "He's my husband, you dirty minded bastard." "Man's off to work and the scum are still at yesterday's party." " Eddy will show you!" " He'll teach you a lesson!" "Had enough?" "Let's go." "A new game." "Banknote darts." "Can you give me a note?" "It's some coppers short." "What name?" " Leszczyc?" " He's left the students' hostel." " Your name?" " Leszczyc." "Follow me." "Breathe." "Turn left." "Stop." "Next one." " Leszczyc?" " That's me." "Leszczyc - same as usual." "They can post you on the spot." "You just collect your things." "Leszczyc." "Closer." "Don't overdo it." " No personal data." " Three steps back." "Fair." "Oval face." " Age?" " 24." " Married or single?" " Single." " Identification marks?" " None." "Any certificates?" "You always bring a bag of certificates." "Kidney trouble, flat feet, cracked, six toes." "What's it this time?" " Nothing." " A new method." "Turn right." "Hand over right eye." "A." "E." "K." "Shut your eyes." "Turn left." " Any health trouble?" " None." "What's that scar on your leg?" "I got it playing tag as a kid." "He's fit." "Andrew Leszczyc, university graduate was due for three months military training." "Andrew Leszczyc did not report for training." "That amounts to desertion." "We inquired at the department of Ich lchthyo..." "logy and were informed that Leszczyc gave up studying and was expelled." "Andrew Leszczyc who refused to do his student training is now due for two years military service." "He's not sick and doesn't provide for a family." "There's no reason for exempting him." "I want to do my military service." "A new method." "The State spent a lot of money to give you a chance to do your Ich..." "Ichthyological studies." "Now you could pay the State back as a..." "I was to work in a provincial museum... as deputy director." "Director..." "We're short of directors of Ichthyological museums." "And you refuse to do this for the State." "No..." "I only studied to escape military service." "I thought this meant losing two years of my life." "The discipline too..." "Well, I thought I'd lie low..." "I edited the news sheets." "My discovery." "When I did that I didn't have to study." "They said I was clever, not clever enough to study art." "Or journalism." "I didn't care if it was Ichthyology or bug psychology." "You should have signed me up then." "Why didn't you report for training?" "I couldn't." "I wanted to arrange things... my life." "One hour seemed a lifetime, let alone three months." "What kind of nonsense is this?" "You come here the lot of you... and you expect me to know by your bare behinds who's a man and who's a sissy." "Now you're not a man." "But five years ago you made fools of us." " When's the next transport?" " Today." "Destination?" "Kolobrzeg." "On the coast." "At 3,1 O." "Leszczyc, pack a small bag of personal things." "Report here today at 3 p." "M." "Not drunk." "Next one." "Next one!" "This time you've had it." "They out smarted you." "We've been listening in." "Get going now." "Kiss your love, have a few, and bye bye." "The door!" "Messing with the clock again!" "You'll stay in bed when I'm gone, anyway." "Sorry." " I can't leave naked, can I?" " Sorry." "I want to have all the time I need." "I'll be doing the shops behind the saw-mill today." "Next door to your library." "I'd like to see myself how you sweat at your books." "Studying like hell." "That's not funny." "I may go to the department." "I'll find you." "If you'd done this before..." "Here pup!" "Leave the dog alone." "I'll hurt my eye." "The caretaker said the dog's got rabies." "That's a good one." "How can such a little dog have rabies?" "There's an epidemic." "He should have been inoculated." " They won't think so anyway." " Think what?" "That you have big eyes." "I'll be late again because of you." "You should be ready to leave in three minutes." "I could even leave in one minute." "For good." "For good." "Each time one leaves it's for good." " Have we any honey?" " No idea." "I'm off to work." "I'm not 19." "My looks are important." "You're not 19, and that's a fact." "When we were nineteen..." "What a sad song it is." " What was that?" " Your favorite mayonnaise." "Clean up before you go to sleep." "Come here." "Your mistress has made your breakfast." "Kiss your husband goodnight." "You could sweep the floor." "It's pigsty." "Three yogurts, a pot of honey, one loaf." "54 zloties." "I've only got 5O." "I'll take one cauliflower less." "One loaf, please." " A dark one or a white one?" " Either." "It's for a blind man." "My, you're always ready with a joke." " Say something." " Some thing!" "Remember. 1 Pretty Street, foreign language classes." "Look at your dog... there's froth on his muzzle." "The chimney will keep out the wind." " He might be in." " It's 1 O. He'll be asleep." "No one in." "He's packed his things." "Must be going away." "I'll fetch a blanket." "Taking off your bra?" "They won't come back?" "She's working." "And he does the cooking." "He's seen me already... naked." " You've been there?" " Not just sunbathing." " Well?" "You see what I mean?" " What?" "He can see you." " Who cares?" " How about his wife?" "She's not a wife." "They live together." "It's been going on for two years." " So what happened?" " She arrived." " She gave him hell?" " She didn't see, I suppose." "I don't know if they care." " What if she comes now?" " We're only sunbathing." "The chimney's smoking." "Look!" "They're in." "Quiet!" "Stop it." "What lovely little dog." " The vet's fixing a horse." " What's wrong with him?" "Could I go in first?" "I'm afraid it might be hydrophobia." "You don't say!" "Such a tiny little dog." " Was he inoculated?" " No." "The vet's here." "I don't mind, you go in first." "Over there." "To the left." "I'm afraid it might be..." "He had froth on his muzzle." " Was he inoculated?" " No." "I see." "Too late now." "Sorry." "I'll have to, you know..." "He'd only suffer." "I'll give him an injection." "But..." "There's an epidemic." "A pity." "Hydrophobia." "Couldn't you try?" "There must be some way." " Shall I get him ready?" " Yes." "You'll have to... bury him." "Or would you rather I did?" "There'll be expenses." "That's all I have." "Ambulance Service." "An accident!" "Can't you see?" "A girl!" "They say the driver was drunk." "I want to see it too." "What's happened?" "I hate this sort of things." " Let's go for a drink." " I don't drink." "I have a date with a bloke who owes me money." "A first class bloke." "He's doctoring cars." "If you have a car, he's your man." "Mundek, you were chairman of the Youth Association in school?" "Watch out." "You'll get run over." "Hi." "OK." "Change it at the bar and get us some coffee." "What was that Polish Youth Association stuff?" "It's past history now." "You had better marks and never did a thing." "As a child I pretended to be a girl in front of a mirror." " Silly, wasn't it?" " Naked?" "In my sister's stockings." "Silly, eh?" "I was 2O when I first saw a naked woman." " I had baths with my sister." " The one with the stockings?" "The younger one." "The other one was cross-eyed." " Which one?" " Both, if you ask me." "The older one was worse." "I'm squinting too." "Can't you see?" "No." "Honest." "My father was like that." "Genetics." "He couldn't doubt his fatherhood." " You can see it." " When you look sideways." " They call me Picasso." " Don't look sideways." " Thirty four." " Why Picasso?" " One eye here, another there." " Thirty four what?" "Bust." "The one in the pullover." "What an eye you've got." "I can read what's written over there." "A man who says:" "I don't know why I'm here." "After many years or after something like youth or love..." "The poster over there." "An advertisement." "I thought you saw double." "I could read the smallest letters at the oculist's." "You could pretend you can't see at all." "People think so." "But my sight's better than anybody's." "They thought you'd learnt your letters by heart." "Sixty inches." "The two of them together." "Plenty of stuff to make one good one." "That's the kind I'd marry." "Picasso!" "You changed a 5OO note." " Where's the change?" " I've married a 36 inch." "They're rare." " She's older than you." " Why?" "She must be." "And she has money." "You don't work." "How do you know I'm not on holiday?" "I may divorce." "A pal of mine came back from holiday single." " I'm reading for my degree." " You're a sucker." "Studying for years." " What is it?" " Ichthyology." " I know." "Ichthyol soap." " 38 inch." "An overstatement." " You'd do it to her, eh?" " Who wouldn't?" " You don't sit in an office either." " I'm a hunter." "I hunt for fools." "To draw them." "They give me a photo, some advance money." "In three days I get the rest of the cash." "And something on top of it if the husband's out." " I must make a call." " Over there." "What bints!" "Her name' s Janczewska, 3, Pretty Street." "He' s ringing her now." "What a profession!" "Janczewska?" "No... her... name's..." "You're a sucker." "A degree." "Married." "What's the good of it." " I'll be a deputy director." " In the provinces, eh?" "Bridge with the chemist and one tart for the whole city." "If you don't marry for money, you marry for the sake of others." "Thousands of blokes like us are scheming how to do your wife." "And one's probably doing it right now." "Janczewska, not bad eh?" "Married last year." "I ring the bell..." "offer to draw her... later she won't let me get my pants on." " I'm off to work." " To Janczewska?" "I'm a bit weak in the knees after yesterday." "What a profession!" "Only you must have looks, damn it." "Let's go." "The coffee's been paid." "Lend me a hundred, will you?" " Give me a ring." "I'm in the book." " Get yourself a phone!" "Instead of a degree." "You'll pay me back when you're a director." "Janczewska is her married name?" " Do you know her?" " No." " What's that hundred for?" " I've got to buy an envelope." " 1 O groszy's enough." " I'll need more." "No business after eleven." "Hello." "Department of Ichthyology." "I only wanted my report book." "I've been called up." "They've got you at last." "Nothing doing." "I can give you statement that you've been expelled." " How many years of study?" " Four." "Nice job." "Getting yourself expelled just before the degree." " I didn't write my thesis." " Why?" "I don't like fish." " When are you to report?" " At once." " Leaving at 3." "Going fishing." " What do you mean?" "Going to the seaside." "Andrew Leschitz did not write..." "his graduation thesis." "Expelled." "What did you do for the last two years?" "Will you do some thing for me?" "I told my wife..." "I'd be here at noon." "About my diploma." "She doesn't know I'm not studying any more." " I know what you were doing." " She'll come here." "Don't tell her I've been called up." "Tell her to go home." " Have you got a pen?" " Yes." "Will you write something for me?" "Here?" " Why are you staring at me?" " I knew I girl like you." "Do we start with, darling"?" "No." "Straight to business." "My friend who'll give you this will explain." " What name shall I sign?" " No name." "Now the address:" "Lena Janczewska" " 3, Pretty Street." " Pretty?" " Number 3." " I mean Lena?" "I don't even know her." "Why didn't you sign it?" " It's a joke." " Same here." "Somebody's fallen for Lena and wants to become friends." "He'll succeed, I think." "Sign:" "Mundek" " or Raymond." " Not a nice name." "I'm Barbara." " What are you doing here?" "I can't wait for the lectures to start." "Ichthyology." "You know what it means?" "Fish science." "I come from the coast." "I can't wait for the lectures to start." " I'm going home to the seaside now." " On the 3 p.m. Train." "How do you know?" "I could do things that would amaze you." " I may come with you." " I'd like to be amazed." "Salmo Salar Fluviasticis - a very rare kind of salmon." "It has most peculiar habits." "Once a year the fish of this species come to the same place... where they meet as if they had a date... or as if it were their wedding night." "This romantic streak has done for them." "Fisherman..." "discovered the place." "Grass consumption per single inhabitant... at the rate of one blade per person..." "You like dogs?" "You just looked like a bulldog." "I can pull a worse face." "You win." "Twelve o'clock." "I've only got an hour." "I must hurry." " Where are you going?" " I work here... round the corner." "So I come over the fence... to hear a thing or two about fish." "You're making it all up." "Where are you?" " Why are you following me?" " Why are you like this?" "Playacting!" "You don't work here." "And there's no such salmon." "I didn't listen to the lectures." "I'm a working man, worn out..." " Are you a working man?" " I like to see people work." "I'd like to be a photographer and photograph people at work." "It's nice to take pictures, Barbara." "Don't call me Barbara." "The trees are pulled in here." "The timber gets cut into tiny bits - matches, toothpicks." "It's nice here, isn't it?" "Smells beautiful." "Ever had a close look at a match." "This morning I struck a match at dawn." "It was like seeing it for the first time." "You're making things up." "A match is a beautiful thing." "So are you." "The future is." "Many things are." "Huge trees made into matches." "How did you know when my train leaves?" "I'm a railwayman." "I inspect coaches and tap their wheels." "You're silly." "I'll be at the station, you'll see." "In uniform." "Not yet perhaps." "But I'll tap your wheel for sure." "You stopped me." "You wanted to borrow a pen." " Why did you stop me?" " To borrow your pen." " Well?" " I did, didn't I?" "So what?" "Something's got into my eye." "Wait." "Don't move." "It's all right." "Well?" "I stopped you because I took you... for a friend." "She was like you." "She was..." " Where' s she now?" " No idea." "She's got a degree in art." "Does some window dressing." "She's no longer like you." "What does it mean, anyway?" "A friend showed me today a portrait of a girl..." "You smoke?" "See you at the station." "No smoking here." "Excuse me." " Does he come here often?" " The student?" "To earn an extra penny." "Excuse me, my wife was supposed to be here." " He's asking for his wife." " Wife?" " Looks as if he has one." " My wife." "She was supposed to do..." "these windows." " Window-shopping, eh?" " No." "She was to do..." "some window-dressing." "Teresa?" " She' s got no husband." " That's me." " Well, well." " Well what?" "Nothing." "I didn't know." "Now you do." "Where is she?" "She took the afternoon off." "In the advertising business... we have... women artists to do window-dressing, etc." "Somebody has to supervise them, assign them work give them an afternoon off." "That's me." " Where did she go?" " She took her pay and went off." "Must be important." " Must have gone home." " Could be." "...foreign, Common Cause language classes." "English, French, German," "Russian, Italian and Spanish." "Remember the address:" "1, Pretty Street." "5,6,7,8,9,8O!" "1,2,3,4,5,6,7, 8,9,9O!" "Your hand, sir." "I'll tell you the truth, your fortune," "I can see it in your eyes." "I'll tell you the truth." "For 1 O zloties." "You won't pay if I lie." " I'll tell you your name." "Its..." " Andrew." "I'd have told you myself." "I wouldn't have believed the other things if you were wrong." "You mother's name's Maria and your father's dead." "Right?" "Yes." "Now I want my 1 O zloties." "You won't be sorry." " I've no change." " I'll change a note." " That's not enough." " I'll give you more." "I can see in your hand..." "bad things." " A journey, eh?" " Bad things." "I'll tell you nothing." "I don't want your money." "Bad things!" "Excuse me." "You see I'm in a hurry." "That's all." "Good-bye." "Slam the door, will you?" "A surprise visit." "Don't you know me?" "Wait!" "It's me..." "The beach?" "I had to call you Mrs. But you called me by my name." "You were learning Spanish and wanted me to fetch you ice..." "Anything..." "because you knew that I..." "Remember?" "Yes?" "So what?" "For one thing he was cross-eyed." "No." "He's here." "Want to talk to him?" "Don't look at me like that." "It's not me who makes bets." "Mundek does." "It's his business." " He doesn't always win." " I didn't bet." "The stake's 5OO." "That pal of yours..." "I kicked him out." "Mundek must be in fits losing 5OO." " He'll get it back from you." " I didn't bet." "It's 5OO either way." "He or you." "Mundek's in with such girls..." ", She likes it", he says... , You could get her without tears"." ", Shall we bet?" , OK." "It's a deal"." "You either win or don't mind paying if you get what you want." "What if your husband did the same?" "It evens up - the unfaithful and the betrayed." " What husband?" " Janczewski." "The Janczewskis are abroad." "Mundek got me in here." "It's a debt of gratitude." "A good turn from a pal." "And now these betting tricks..." "He keeps ringing me, nervous." "I don't think it's worth his while." "I liked your coming here just like that." "Perhaps that's how it ought to be..." "Are you disappointed?" "It evens up, eh?" "If you had a girl, you'd be worrying sick where she was." "Suppose you find some phone number in her diary." "You're..." "Wrong number." " We'll pay for a whole year." " What if I'm run over by a car?" " You start in a month's time?" " Yes, on October 1 st." " What language?" " Could I use your phone?" "Shall we sign on?" " No directory." " My colleague's got it." "May I speak to the manager?" "Central Office calling." "Yes." "It's about the conference." "Hello is that the manager?" "Central Office speaking about those... well..." "What was it we wanted?" "Hello, mum." "It's me." "Why the police to find me?" "I rang you when I came down last time." "Before the holidays." "You were in conference or something." "I just pop down for a day and go back." "Sitting on the lake with the fish..." "Studying." "Not even a post office there." "No need." "I'm earning money, mum." "Don't know what to do with the cash." "I've got some in every pocket." "Here's the book." "Don't keep it long please." " What name?" "I'll help you." " Kruszynski Raymond." " Just the address." " 12, People's Army Street." "I'll get myself a room when I come back." "In an attic." "You rent an attic from a caretaker..." "Get married." "I may do the same." "Let's get married on the same day." "It wouldn't do for a son before his mother." "A son mustn't before his mother." "Will you finish soon?" "He ought to be eighteen." "My stepfather." "I'm worried you might go astray." "You know how it is." "I'm going to the seaside." "I'll write." "To study the sea in addition to the lakes." "Some fish go to the sea from the lakes." "Against the stream." "I'll write." "Yes." "Remember, you must get married." "Find a free moment." "Have you finished?" " I'm paying for the call." " Have you no change?" "What languages do you teach here?" "English, French, Russian..." " Spanish?" " Yes." "And Italian." "I'll take Spanish." "Are you paying for a year, a term, a month?" "7O zloties per month." "Just a month." "All right?" "Put the jar to the wall, you'll hear better." "What does she say?" "Let's put the fish in the tub, we'll hear better trough this." "Take off your goggles." "Leave him alone." "He'll pass out with fright." "You owe me something." "At least one hundred." "That's his lot." " Who's this bloke?" " An Ichthyologist." " In fish business?" " Is Ichthyology a kind of fish?" "Big and small fry." "Want some warm water?" "We could make some." " Cold water for bleeding." " We've heater and fish." "We could try an ichthyological torture." "It doesn't worry him." "He thinks only of himself." "The egoist." "Don't worry." "The plug's gone." " We'll mend it." "Might be useful." " You'll pay me back when you can." "When you're a director." "Would you like to land on the moon?" " To be a cosmonaut?" " For TV?" " No, radio." " I would for TV." "Would you like to be a cosmonaut?" "This minute?" "Ask my daughter." "She's going to be a dressmaker." "How about you?" "Introduce yourself." "My name's An Anthony..." "Well..." "I..." " Don't be nervous." " Anthony Jasinski." " Splendid." " Would you like to be a cosmonaut?" " Yes." "I'd like to be launched on something definite... and yet have a chance even after launching to choose direction, speed, the way to my destination." "It needn't be the moon." "If I were a driver a truck driver..." "I'd go by long routes to far away places in Poland." "Shall I go on?" "I'd drive for hours, have a break when I like the main thing's to be on time." "Then a day of rest in a strange city." "A city to be explored." "It needn't be the moon." "There are things round the corner." "Conditions are difficult sometimes." "Got to do your best." "You have to risk it." "The main thing's to do your best." "You put it very nicely." "Why aren't you a driver?" "Perhaps because I can't drive a car." " You could learn." " Yes, if I were called up," "I might learn." "They have various courses there." " Driving too." "But it's too late." " It's never too late." " How old are you?" " What's the time." " 2:3O." " Too late." "It's worth it to have a second chance." "We could end on this." "That was a rehearsal." "Now we'll put you on the air." "Oh, no." "No." "The music moves tensely to the dramatic finale." "But before it comes to the allegro confiioco we hear the end of the soothing andantino semplice." "The door's open." "Have you any empty bottles?" "We'll find something for you." "Cauliflower for lunch?" "I'll sit down for a while." "A lucky generation." "At your age I was in the Uprising." "You were just a baby in 1944." "I was no longer in action after I'd been hit in the leg." "But I gave it to the Jerries when they were caught." "Arms were short." "I used unexploded shells." "Some of them exploded at the fifth go or not at all." "The Jerry dug himself a pit and got into it nicely." "I hit him between the eyes." "Nothing happened." "He screamed." "So I went on hitting him... until it worked." "Grand times those were." " Got a dog?" "Out for a walk?" " Yes." " You're going away?" " I intended to." "When the war ended, I drove a truck around the country." "As an undertaker of sorts." "Money was scarce." "Not everyone could afford a coffin to send the dead away by rail." "I'd put the corpse in my cab, pull his hat down and go." "If I met a police patrol, I'd say:, Shush"... , Don't wake the comrade, he's tired out - conferences"..." "How could you drive with this leg?" "Well, this leg it happened before the war" " cut off by a tramcar." "But it's more fun to talk about the Uprising and the truck." "Your bottles." "After many years or after something like love he wants to put everything straight and he straightens his tie." "For the poet already knew that , Forward" ties are far the best." "Whose names are these?" "Who's Roman W?" "!" "What's this cross here?" "All the money gone?" "It's pay day!" "Where's the rest?" "I'm in rags but the wardrobe's packed with this." "Not enough?" "Not enough?" "Still not enough?" "And I find things..." "Whose phone number is this?" "My things take up that much room." "My pay?" "I paid the caretaker." " We were behind with the rent." " Where have you been?" "Certain things ought to be discussed calmly, reasonably." "Not like this!" "What things?" "Your being unfaithful?" "Could be... or sickness or expecting a baby." " Where have you been?" "Listen, I'm staying with you as long as I choose to." "I can afford to be honest." "If there was anything..." "...I wouldn't come back home." "If you can call this a home." " Has your chimney been checked?" " Go away." "I'd like to know where you've been?" "6O, Pretty Street." "Fifth floor." "Didn't you see me?" "You rushed past me in Pretty Street." "Why are you packed?" "No reason." " Pull a face." " What?" "Pull a face." " An ugly one." " It 's just gone three." "Or a funny one." "Any kind of face." "You must have been good at it." "It's always fun at the beginning before..." "Why did you blow off steam?" "I don't know." "It's been years and I don't know a thing..." " I want to know you..." " How much time have you got for that?" "A year?" "5 minutes?" " At least something..." " 6O, Pretty Street, Fifth Floor." "I've sold the dog." "1,2,3,4,5,6,7, 8,9..." "Gosh!" "I'd have reached 5OO." "Sorry." "Look at this sprinter." "He'll be sprinting until the tram cuts him in two." " Will he make it?" " No." "If I pay the full fare, what should he pay?" "I'm not going far." "A sportsman!" "I got it right." "Here!" "Here!" "And here!" "That's what I call luck." " How much will the pools pay?" " A lot." "What luck!" " I'm late because..." " Get in!" "Who wants some grub?" "Here." "I haven't eaten all day." "Not here." "Reserved." "For children of the Unknown Soldier?" "Eurydice, don't wait for me," "You 're slowly fading from my heart." "Eurydice, life's breaking us and no one gets another start." "Leading players" "Supported by" "Music Sound" "Cameraman" "Written and directed by" "English subtitles by Cecylia Wojewoda and Michael Irwin"