Original subtitles

* "We have to set off on every road *

* Someone will wait for us on every journey *

* there is no reason to stay" * (S�ndor Cso�ri)

AMERICAN TORSO (A Bal�zs B�la Studio production)

Memoirs from last century ********* diaries of J�nos Fiala, L�szl� �rvay, Gyula Kun�

Based on Karl Marx' article, L�szl� Teleki's letter,

and the poems of Walt Whitman and S�ndor Cso�ri

Created by G�bor B�dy Based on Ambrose Bierce's short story, "George Thurston"

Music: Ferenc Liszt

Major!

What's the matter?

cavalry men approaching, sir!

Let's go!

Go home, boy!

Well, Boldogh! What have you learned from the general's memoir?

If G�rgey really desired to be renowned and if he had been a great general,

he could have easily been the dictator of Europe.

On 22. April, if he had gone towards Vienna with a doubled march,

he'd have got there without a single gunshot.

And the Viennese cabinet would have been forced to flee to Holmic or some other bohemian castle.

So?

Then he'd have crushed the Croatian resistance, and joined the Italian war to settle the scrum.

Where are you from, sirs?

"Where his soul goes marching on"

Have you seen Ken, the boy from our group?

Yes, but we couldn't see much of him, he was riding so fast.

We had the sympathy of the mutinous German states.

And the Russians?

General Bem invades B�cs-country from the liberated Transylvania,

thereby unleashing the Polish national revolution, which holds up the Russians.

Oh, I'm glad you made it, sir!

Good morning, Ken! I hear you are an excellent rider!

My horse was afraid, sir.

Amazing! I have come to a very different conclusion from yours.

You are probably deceived by G�rgey's dry tone,

because he can suggest, that it is about the reality.

I see G�rgey's greatness in that he kept the troops to the very end.

He had to.

Only G�rgey also managed to sell out the troops.

McClellan had the preponderance.

The dwarfish, arrogant and inhuman G�rgey...

Even if I was about to die...

it would still make me laugh to think about what a great general he was!

Give me your drawings!

The last 15 years has shown that the European plans are only rainbow-phantasms.

I still believe, I never had a doubt, that

there will be a war. A European, global war, which we desire.

You're just creaking, Boldogh, here in the big America, like a cart on the fort of Temesv�r.

What have you accomplished, Major?

We have got the correct distance between elevation 14 and the enemy's front-line.

From this orbit of the six-pound guns can be determined.

The direction of the roads leading to town has been established...

But we could not state, where they join the main road,

and we don't yet know the distance of the latter from elevation 14 either.

Stan, cock up the sides!

That's not sufficient...

Not enough for an attack.

We've got to know sector B5 exactly...

For artillery fire to be effective it has to block the crossing point of the main road.

But from what you tell me, Major I don't even know at what point my cavalry should be deployed.

You understand, Major?

I understand, sir, but we can't get the rest of the data.

Confederates intercepted us at 14.

And unfortunately the front-line of the enemy has moved forward since then.

Right...

Right.

How much more time do you need to acquire the missing data?

10-15 minutes.

Fine.

Stan!

Send for Captain Burling!

Sit down, Major!

I reckon they keep a lot of people there around 14.

Sound 30 men, I would think.

The cavalry is kept a quarter hour back.

Burling and his men will mount a diversionary attack left of that road.

I expect he'll be able to hold the entire front-line himself for at least 20 minutes.

Well, he'll maintain contact until confederate reinforcements arrive.

Is that all right, J�nos?

Yes, sir!

Fine. You are to be off again in two hours.

Get your finished maps to Burling! Good bye, Major!

Thank you, sir!

Good morning, Captain Burling!

Mr. Isaacson from the Pacific Railways.

My name's George Isaacson, from Pacific Railways.

I've got a proposition for you. A peace-time proposition.

What sort of proposition, Mr. Isaacson?

I need engineers skilled in map making for the construction...

of the new Trans-American line of Pacific Railways.

I need you!

Peace isn't here yet!

Peace - so important for Pacific Railways, and America -

is within arms reach.

Richmond will surrender in a few days.

This morning, Lincoln arrived at City Point.

It's what you call a theodolite, Mr. Fiala?

Yes, it is, Mr. Isaacson.

- May I have a look? - If you like...

- You will see everything upside down. - I see.

What do you see?

Just yankees, I believe...

Find a more distant point.

I see a lone tree,

and two soldiers - sitting on a branch - they're tying a rope to it.

I think they're gonna hang somebody.

Well, you can't be a good businessman,

if you'd waste that much rope on a hanging.

To me it looks more like a swing.

Indeed. That's right.

Find the intersection of the point you want to measure.

And you'll get the right distance.

Read the angle-meter!

I suppose 7,5

Now read it again!

Now it's about 12.

It's about 10,000...

in feet.

Care for a cigar?

Thanks...

The instrument itself makes all the measurements geometrically,

which used to be done by two telescopes.

But it's not perfected sufficiently to be introduced to the public.

I just sort of fixed it up myself.

To make really accurate measurements, we would need to add a fine silver scale.

I don't know if there is a craftsman in all of America...

who could make one.

Well, if we can't get one here, we'll buy one from the Old World.

Saddle up your horse, Captain, we're going back to no.14!

Well, Fiala, what's your answer?

You'd better wait a while...

unless you want to burgeon on a heap of bones.

You know, Major, I work with the law of averages.

After three long wars, I trust you won't kick the bucket...

in the last action of the fourth.

Goodbye, Mr. Isaacson!

Farewell, Fiala! But I think I better wait here for you until you get back.

Major! Cavalry lieutenant Vereczky �d�m reporting.

Are you Hungarian?

You did not behave like a gentleman!

You eavesdropped on a conversation which wasn't meant to be heard by others.

What do you want lieutenant?

Would you object if I were to come with you?

I have the general's permission.

Not at all!

And in what capacity are you going to come?

You're not a cartographer, and the unit commander will be Captain Burling.

Just as an observer.

Do as you wish!

Major!

Please, sir!

- There is no real trouble. - Cavalry...

Go home!

Lieutenant!

Lieutenant!

Lieutenant!!!

It's for you.

100 dollars.

We hire you and your partners

from any day of the current, or the next month,

naturally after your disarmament.

The building operations of the Trans-American line is not without dangers.

Therefore we guarantee for every veteran who is experienced in engineering

an income of 40 dollars a week,

in addition to (...)

the costs of which are defrayed by the company.

We stipulate that at the outset, your weekly wage will be 50 dollars.

Above and beyond this...

the company guarantees all of our assistance...

for the technical conception of the theodolite.

We would gladly negotiate manufacturing claims as well.

You will be awarded an additional bonus of 50 dollars...

for every man you enlist for our project.

Enclosed, as an advance payment of 100 dollars,

which you are free to dispose of as you wish.

How about that, Boldogh?

It could be a huge enterprise.

An iron road from the Atlantic shore to the Pacific!

J�nos!

In Europe emigrants are given amnesty one after the other.

Y-y-ou..

Y-you know, that I...

Wo-w-would....

Listen! Even if I would go with you, I would leave as soon as I have the ship fare.

This morning, you were hoping for a European war...

and now you want amnesty.

I think it's all the same for you, Boldogh.

You just want to be home at last.

As for your travelling expenses...

You won't have to waste your time to get it.

Ein anderes mal... weisst du das...

Da kommt das cavalry patrol.

Und meldet mich...

Dass eine halbe Weile von hier eine Kolonne von die Austrians...

angegriffen wurde.

Damals stand ich mit der my company...

in the line of defence of the bridge-head of Szolnok.

Nun wollte ich mich selbst...

uh... selbst... uh...

Ersthaftig keine Angegriffs �berfeiern... Was willst du? ...

Voltaire kept four monkeys in Ferney...

and named them after his literary enemies.

He kicked and poked them every day.

He tortured them in every possible way.

In Cleveland... in �buda...

Like at home.

If you were at home...

You can see painted bowers on the houses.

Sparrow nests upon the drips.

Purslane covers the ground like a rug...

...Bethlen, der eins ebenfalls, I don't need...

...original Hungarian garden in the back...

Comprehending everything you need...

flower-garden and allotment garden...

fruit garden...

Der letztere hatte eine pr�chtige aber zahme Stute,

die w�hlte ich, ruck I threw up on it.

Und dann los, wie a hurricane...

I've been a bad rider all my life, and it hasn't changed since then...

Es war einer scharper gallop...

I was teaching the palot�s... in line and in changing step too

And I also taught there the gombost�, gyerty�s, dobog�, s�v�ny, cziczka...

farkas, medve, bar�t, v�nkos and cs�rg� or lapocka-dance. (Hungarian dances)

Kossuth, Klapka, Vogt and also Garibaldi...

plays this role in the hands of Louis Bonaparte.

The poor monkeys of the revolution...

should also be the hostages of the revolution.

You are the white crow here, Major! Di�a m�ri�s, bojt�r, filk�?

You don't change, Puneky...

You play the same record in every revolution.

Durmi?

Kopka?

Puta?

Thirty-one...?

Czap�ri?

Mr. Puneky...

You were militating under general Stein in the Crimean War.

That's right.

Only then he too was already called Pasha.

Then you must have known lieutenant Vereczky �d�m.

I've known him there and I know him here too.

Of late he was with Sheridan's cavalry.

If he's still alive, that is.

And what sort officer is he?

They didn't like him very much in the Crimean emigration because of his unfriendly nature.

In the past 16 years, I've been in the same place with him three different times.

However, we haven't spoken a word with each other, but...

Anthony �bris will tell you a funny story about him.

�bris!

�bris...

Tell Mr. Fiala, what Vereczky �d�m did at the battle of Sebastopol!

- Drill! - Full!

Welch' ein hartes Schicksaal!

Naughty...

Sometimes I was in doubt too of what I saw myself...

General M�r commanded us with about 300 men against a fort.

The Russians were shooting from behind sandbags.

It was quite a senseless attempt, just like the war itself.

Half of our men were killed in the first 10 meters.

And then when they started shooting at us with canisters...

Everyone was rushing headlong to safety.

As I was trying to bring reason into chaos...

I saw that Vereczky on the fore-edge attained to the fort with 4-5 infantryman.

When the Russians saw them, they killed everyone around him with a deadly fusillade.

But he got off again...

He was ditched there alone.

He got on the fort and stood there at attention with his arms crossed on his chest.

After a little silence, the Russians started to shoot.

Vereczky fell in front of the sandbags.

Curios! Sipszy!

Where have you confiscated this style?

If only his mom could see him!

She would cry with happiness to see him in his fancy clothes!

Si fueris Romae, romano vivito more.

Eh, du Unmesch! We should send you directly to the Illustrierte Zeitung!

For the second attack, we got cavalry to support us.

We seized the fort. Vereczky was shot and badly wounded.

But he didn't die. I know the rest from Dr. Reich...

who interrogated and tended the captured Russians...

One of the N.C.O-s said, that he was told to surrender, as he was all alone.

And the demoniacal fellow - he was barely 24, just a kid, really...

he looked onto the line of the guns pointing at him...

some of the barrels almost came to his chest...

and replied in French: Je ne me rends pas, pas moi!

Then the commander officer shouted fire.

And if everyone had shot at him, they surely would have made a riddle of him

But a lot of them didn't shoot.

The Russian said that he didn't shoot either.

No power in the world could have made him do it.

Non plus ultra. It's all exaggerated.

The Russian might have exaggerated it...

but I saw the first part of it myself.

A dead soldier is better than a runaway.

Maybe he wanted to cover his aptitude for escaping this way.

Are you saying - particularly, in his absence - that Vereczky �d�m is a coward?

He wouldn't have tried to overcome his aptitude if he had been a coward.

And I wouldn't even talk about him if he was here.

Thank you, �bris.

A brave heart marrows with luck.

Gentlemen! Who will beat a Lajos Fund?

The bank is all in, Gentlemen.

Tony, play the R�k�czy Marching instead!

Ah! What a perfume-smelling salon-like atmosphere!

I feel responsible, because I've forced you into a dangerous situation.

Don't let it bother you, Major.

It was my own choice.

Right.

I believe that you are a fatalist.

And you enjoy these kind of dangers.

Would you have a drink with me, Major?

No, thank you.

I've still got some hard work tonight.

I simply wanted you to forgive me...

what you may justly...

hold me responsible.

Then with the knowledge of death walking one side of me,

And the thought of death walking closely the other side of me,

And I in the middle as with companions, and as holding the hands of companions,

I fled forth to the hiding, receiving night that talks not,

Down to the shores of the water, the path by the swamp in the dimness,

To the solemn shadowy cedars and ghostly pines so still.

What are you musing on, J�nos?

Well, I was thinking, general, that if a man tries to behave like a soldier...

that wants to preserve his integrity...

he easily becomes a bitter fool.

Well, I suppose you mean, that when our heart is moved,

our brain sometimes becomes easily confused.

Our maps are really excellent, J�nos, but you know we won't be needing them any more.

After sunset, Johnston pulled back his troops.

Incidentally, we've also received news that the Confederates evacuated Richmond.

Anyway, J�nos, a few more days,

and you'll celebrate your first victory with us.

Good night!

Good night, general!

In case of targets we can't get close to for some reason...

we can accurately determine the distance with two chart tables and binocles.

We place the tables around half a mile from one another...

and we cross-check them.

We do this by aiming the binocle's cross exactly to the place we want to measure.

Then we can draw a line with the binocle's ruler...

and so we have our main direction.

Now we locate a certain point with one of the tables,

let's say, onto the band - and we make it a quarter mile.

Each of us draws in this point's direction.

On your map it will point to the left, on mine to the right.

The only thing we have to do now is draw in from each table...

the directions of the measured points.

We place one paper on the other, so the main directions will overlap one another.

The other lines we drew in will reveal the distance we were looking for.

We measure it with a pair of compasses, and we can read them in numbered scales.

If we make one unit 10 miles, for instance...

how far away is the tower from us?

Twelve.

You started to study topology beside general Bem.

That's right.

I've learned some already in the Artillery Academy of Graz,

between '39 and '42.

But I went further into it during the emigration in Aleppo.

We were sentenced to a year and a half of idleness.

As you know... it was an actual exile.

The old man, however, believed that under the name of Pasha Murat...

he could try the operational reorganization of the Ottoman military capacity...

for a big war, that is yet to come.

The paradox was...

that the sultan actually wanted Bem for the commander of the Imperial Artillery,

however, he too was often handled simply as a captive.

Trotzdem , he worked a lot.

He mostly studied the capabilities of the mobilization and enumeration of the Arab world.

A horse-drawn artillery that could be deployed quickly to any point of the empire,

the adaptability of camel-haulage,

the utilization of camels in general for hauling and for reinforcements.

These were his main topics.

But he enumerated every fortification all over the empire,

even those that were built by the Judaeans or the Hindoos.

He ceaselessly made plans of entrenchments to secure the passage of the Euphrates.

He examined the conditions of arranging and settling front guard arrays.

He also planned to measure and regulate the Tigris and Euphrates.

Eventually, he died before the Crimean War.

Did you know that before his death, Bem helped the Aleppo captaincy...

to eliminate a Berber-Arab guerilla riot?

I was there too.

I watched the Old Lion, the mercenary of the European revolutions...

acting in the most rotten kind of position.

That was his last war.

After that, in '51 we got permission to sail to Europe.

In Aleppo, the British consul gave me some topographical books.

I purchased a couple of these tele-objectives in London...

which then were only manufactured by one Austrian military company...

in all of Europe, the SUS.

I carried these to America with me.

I've got a commission to make the first large-scale cartograph of Missouri.

I could only finish the job after the Crimean War.

We haven't really been to Crimea itself.

I was employed by the English, to organize their reinforcements.

Afterwards back to America...

then in '60 to Italy.

I'm swamped with defeat.

During that time came the idea of an instrument,

which by a single graphometer can measure those kinds of distances,

which now can only be done on two tables.

But there was no method for perfect effectuation.

Although meanwhile, I've heard that the SUS have come up with something similar,

and it is called theodolite.

I have an experimental prototype in my tent.

It seems now that the Pacific is willing to finance its manufacturing.

What an enormous swing!

I wonder how tall it is.

We can easily find that out from here.

It will be good for practice.

You'll go half a mile to the left, and I'll go to the right.

You know what to do first.

I locate your device...

- and the direction of the certain point. - That's right!

Then measure the swing's amplitude...

and the place of the suspension.

The rest will be a child's-play to count.

Don't forget! Right in the middle of the spiderweb!

- What's new, Boldogh? - General Lee gave up Petersburg.

So then peace actually is a couple of minutes away.

The brigade will move along tonight.

I think we will be disbanded soon.

Signal to him that he can come if he's ready.

Wouldn't you rather come with me to the Pacific instead?

There is yet a war with the Indians.

You can bury your sword in Europe.

I've been thinking a lot...

I read once that a man's life is like a leaf in the wind.

Sometimes it halts, then flies along, and eventually a dike will engulf it.

Well I would rather much like it if in alter orbis...

that dike would be back home.

Did you succeed, �d�m?

Great!

We lay the main lines on each other. Do you see?

There is the point of concurrence.

We measure it with a pair of compasses.

And we convert it to miles.

About 50 feet, I reckon.

Please stay here for a while, Captain.

We'll go and check on our calculations.

Good morning, boys!

Was it you, who hung this enormous swing on the tree?

No I wasn't. It was Buck Harper and Jerry Kowalski.

Hey, Jerry!

How long is that rope?

We didn't measure it, sir, but it must be some 50 feet. Do you want to have a try?

No, thank you!

How do you speed it?

The same way you do with a horse. Only here you give momentum with your feet.

But there's no way of stopping it!

Bobby, let the hussar captain try the swing!

That's enough! Slow down!

What's the matter?

If you swing it too high up, sir, the rope will rip out of your hands.

I've got it.

He doesn't know... If he swings over the dead-centre...

the swing will begin to fall, and rip the rope out of his hands.

Felix opportunitate in mortis.

Bury him!

Order him a coffin.

Where, sir?

Sir?

Bury him where he touched the ground.

translated by malenkij

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