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Ceskoslovensky Filmexport presents

THE JOKE

Based on the novel by Screenplay by

Starring

Music by

Sound Recordist Film Editor

Set Designer

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2nd Unit Director Continuity

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Directed by

My home town.

20 years since I moved out.

It leaves me cold,

rather it causes hatred.

I'll avoid the few friends I have left.

That's the way I feel.

I'll be happy to fulfill

my cynical mission here.

I came back

for a truly spiteful purpose.

We met again a week ago.

Comrade Jahn?

Yes.

I'm Mrs. Zemankova, from Radio.

They sent me here

to make a radio program about your Institute,

and I need an expert to advise me.

- Take a seat. - Thank you.

How will your research institute be affected by recent government decisions?

Well, recently we...

I'm told there'll be more freedom

to cooperate with other research centers.

Is that true?

This might bring about a boom in research, right?

You look nice.

- Really? - Really, you look so...

so young.

- Are you married? - For years.

What does your husband do?

He teaches Marxism at the university. Want a smoke?

A marriage of intellectuals.

What was your name again?

Zemankova.

- Is that him? - Yes.

Hubby in your cigarette case!

- Do you know him? - No.

Is this the way he dresses?

No, it's an ancient photo from the choir.

He used to sing?

We all did.

Don't you remember, those good old days?

All those songs...

Youngsters today are sad:

they've forgotten all the folk songs.

I just loved this one...

Over hill over dale...

Indeed I knew her husband.

Now I hated her.

But how odd, you get obsessed with a woman you hate

as if you loved her.

...the sun was shining, and we stood with the crowd, all singing.

Hey, the sun is shining...

But I was glad I'd never see her again,

nor that fancy-dress idiot of hers.

May I come again,

for you to check my article?

You've been so kind.

Suddenly I saw my chance for the revenge

I had been planning for 15 years.

A single room today,

two for tomorrow.

Hospital laboratory? Give me Mr. Kostka, please.

Kostka! Damn it.

And where does he live?

- Hello. - Hello. Come in.

Thanks.

Do you ever remember college days?

With a lump in my throat.

We're getting on, it seems ages ago. Ages...

Sugar?

Yes, please.

Nice of you to remember me.

Will you have some tea?

Sorry...

it's cramped.

Mine in Prague is no larger.

It has its advantages, nobody can move in on me.

Man should not live alone.

- Don't say you're married! - No way!

Or do you mean to?

I have a friend, in another town.

Why not move there?

No room for me.

There's no church either.

I'm a Protestant.

I'd better stay single.

Why do you need your freedom?

And you?

I like whoring around.

Would you lend me your room tomorrow?

Of course, happy to.

You can stay now, if you like.

No, I have a hotel room.

But...

I'd like a pleasant setting for tomorrow.

I won't be alone.

I guessed not.

Come.

Pull gently.

Something special here.

May it bring you something really nice.

I'm planning a job of destruction.

Can destruction ever be good?

You are...

You're a quiet plodder on God's little acre.

I'm different.

- MAY 1st, 1949 - Long live the first of May!

New youth, joyful and free

Gottwald's youth are we!

Louder! All Prague must dance!

How intoxicating it was, to decide

the fate of people and events.

We felt we held in our hands...

the steering wheel of history.

To be joyful was a duty.

A serious sort of joy leaving no space for run.

The time has come

The sound of freedom...

What a face you're making!

How?

You smiled so strangely.

I'm full of joy.

Some secret thought...

Marketa was like the spirit of the time:

naive, joyful - and strict.

I tried in vain to win her.

Long live the Soviet Union!

The Soviet Union, our bastion of peace!

Love is heaven.

The driving force of living.

Love is not the body's lust.

Unfortunately Marketa took that seriously,

and refused any lust at all.

I have a surprise for you, Ludvik.

Me too.

- Yours first. - Guess!

Your parents are away, and you want me to spend the night.

I was chosen for a course in politics. I leave tomorrow.

Aren't you happy for me?

No, I'm happy.

I borrowed the cottage. We could have been alone.

You don't love me. You spoil everything!

Don't you want me to go?

Dear Ludvik, it's wonderful.

The lectures are very interesting.

I've learned so many new things, about Trotsky, for example.

There's a healthy spirit here.

Every evening Pavel teaches us new songs.

Now I know about the power of optimism.

I am happy. Your Marketa.

Dear Marketa,

Optimism is the opium of mankind.

Healthy spirit stinks of stupidity.

Long live Trotsky!

Your Ludvik.

Take a seat.

Do you know Marketa Pospisilova?

Sure, boys! She's our classmate.

Do you write to her?

I do.

What do you write?

You don't remember?

What do you think of optimism?

What should I think?

Are you an optimist?

I like a bit of fun, I'm happy.

Even nihilists are happy,

they laugh at the suffering.

So optimism is the opium of mankind.

Where did you get that from?

Did you write this?

It was just a joke.

A joke. Interesting.

Your other love letters to Marketa are not in a joking mood.

What are you making fun of? What's funny? Optimism? The Party?

Boys... Listen, boys.

Stop addressing us that way.

A few silly words.

I didn't think of what I wrote.

Maybe you wrote what was in you.

Maybe in general you don't write what you think.

You obviously didn't think twice.

Thus you dropped your mask.

- What have you read by Trotsky? - Nothing.

- Who lent you the books? - Nobody.

- Who are your Trotsky-ist contacts? - I have none.

You are a Trotsky-ist.

You leave the Students Union as of now.

- Give us the keys. - Let's see your briefcase.

They'd all been my friends.

I'd tried to find a girl for him,

but his big ears didn't turn anyone on.

How he hoped for leaflets against the regime.

Out of luck again.

The Party Committee will hear your case.

Pavel, did you hear what happened? What'll be the outcome?

Don't worry, leave it to the Party.

Did you know the Dean and his secretary... What do you think?

We'll give you a hand.

No thanks, gentlemen, no need.

He calls us gentlemen!

You showed them my letters.

I had no choice.

The Party has the right to know all.

I don't understand you.

Healthy spirit stinks of stupidity.

How can you be so rude?

I avoided you,

but when they told me to break with you...

- Who told you? - Zemanek. - Pavel.

But only yesterday he said...

Never fear.

I won't leave you now.

I'm no coward.

I'll stand by you, Ludvik.

I'll never leave you, never!

My savior.

Had I admitted my guilt

she would have stood by me,

and I would have won the body

she had been refusing me.

But I didn't feel guilty.

So I lost Marketa and her body.

I was quite alone.

Do you serve breakfast?

No, we're closed.

I'm only here because of you.

How's that?

You're expecting someone, that someone must be registered.

But not until eleven!

What'll I do until eleven?

What about me?

What can I do in this hole on a Saturday morning?

Sleep.

If only I could sleep as I used to.

Citizens, tomorrow afternoon we invite you

to the traditional "King's Procession".

We thank the Sports Committee

and we thank the Farmers' Co-op for the horses.

This year's event will be festive indeed.

Now we will play for you...

Welcome, by Marie Kolomazniko.

Welcome, young citizens in our town

For its old splendors renown

The chairman is smiling with festive voice

The town hall celebrates, people rejoice

Our town will cherish you

Hear our welcoming song

The sun is shining for you all life long.

Dear parents,

we are here to welcome your babies

into our community, where they'll be brought up

to become the pride of family, State and the working class.

Now the case of Comrade Jahn.

I will read letters by two communists.

This first was written by Julius Fucik

in a Gestapo prison, waiting for his execution:

"Death, it is taking long for you to come

although I hoped to meet you much later,

to lead the life of a free man,

to work and love and sing much longer.

People, can you imagine

how we would live, were we to meet again when this is over,

when the dreams we'll die for have come true?"

And in this world, the one we fought for,

another communist writes:

"Optimism is the opium of mankind.

Healthy spirit stinks of stupidity.

Long live Trotsky!

Your... Ludvik."

What do you think

the comrades who died would have said to this?

For them it was life or death, they weren't petty.

They'd have known it was a joke.

We don't need to hear any more.

We propose that

Ludvik Jahn be expelled

from the Party and from the University.

Someone like him...

there is no room for someone like him here.

Express your opinions by voting.

Who is for expulsion?

Thank you.

What a gang of idiots!

You slow pokes!

We'll teach you to run!

Don't stand and stare!

Move it, move it, on the double!

I did my military service in the "special battalion"

for "enemies of the Republic".

Move it over there!

You in front!

On the double!

Ludvik, you're here.

What a surprise!

Is one of them yours?

Mine? Never!

I'm off to rehearsal. You wouldn't be interested?

Why not, I have 45 minutes.

Come and waste time with us.

My old pal.

We used to ride the "King's Procession" together.

A great clarinet player, we founded this band together.

How about playing?

No thanks, haven't tried it for 10 years.

Life in Prague is nothing but rush, hurry...

Stay, you're our guest of honor.

Come, sit down.

Let's have it, boys...

You're not moving! Faster!

Damn you lazy guys!

This is the army!

Come on! You too! And you on that ladder!

You too! Get to work!

It's an honor to be a soldier.

You're not soldiers!

The Republic can't trust you with arms.

You should be in prison.

You are lucky to be here.

And here you'll stay until we think you've reformed.

About face!

About face!

About face!

About face!

No more masters, no more slaves.

We composed it ourselves.

My future was taken care of.

Two and a half years of this "army",

a year in military prison,

three years in the mines.

Six years.

I made friends.

Jindrich sent peace petitions to Stalin and Truman,

and appealed to our army to disarm.

Matlos...

how he cursed, stole... and sang!

Alexej...

son of a high Party official arrested during the purge.

Cenek, expelled from the Academy of Arts for painting cubist pictures.

Here his paintings were appreciated.

This is Alenka, gentlemen.

She initiated me at sixteen.

An officer's wife, so she belongs here.

Here she is from the back,

that royal, but imperial ass!

She loved a beating, and I, poor fool, didn't know why.

This gal posed for me naked with her mom waiting outside.

This was one fantastic whore...

See this mark?

A cigarette burn.

I tell you, gentlemen...

her sex was like an accordion.

We'd all get it, wives and kids included...

Attention!

What's all this?

This is an allegory showing the importance of our army

for the liberation of our Republic.

This is the army, alongside the working class.

Here are the symbols of freedom, equality, liberty...

the bourgeoisie leaving the scene of history.

Run! Faster! Lift those feet!

I'll have you all locked up!

I'll teach you!

Down!

You are not fit, men!

None of you!

I've planned a race for you.

Break up into sides! Four each side!

One runs from the right, hands the peg to the man on the left,

he'll run back and so on.

A team of non-commissioned officers will compete.

It's called a relay race.

Got it?

Are you ready?

On your marks!

Ready!

Move it! Run, you swine!

Faster, you black swine!

I said run!

Run! What's the matter with you?

Corporal Holly, Lieutenant. 2nd platoon doing the relay race.

Move! What's wrong with you?

Team, at attention!

Run, run, faster!

Run! Next!

Run!

Why did you run so slowly?

We're tired, Lieutenant.

If you're tired, raise your hand!

Right.

All of you!

- No, I wasn't. - Who?

So you weren't tired?

Why not?

Because I'm a communist.

You came in last but you're not tired.

No, I'm not.

So you sabotaged the training program.

Two weeks jail for attempted mutiny.

Dad was arrested for espionage.

It's the Party's duty to mistrust me.

Even though I renounced him.

What?

- Your father? - I renounced him.

Our CO is a saboteur.

Instead of reforming us,

he makes us hate it all.

I reported it to the Party!

A class enemy has sneaked into our Communist Party,

trying to undermine our regime.

We have one among us.

Do you know this letter?

Yes.

You scoundrel, you informer!

A fool's cry falls on deaf ears!

Here's another letter for you. Read it.

Out loud!

Read it.

So you refuse to?

Down!

Now read.

As of September 15, 1951

you are expelled from the Czechoslovak Communist Party

for collaboration with the enemy.

Get up, Svarda!

Call yourself an army!

- Get up! - Don't wake him.

Come here, boys.

Get up, you fool!

Don't spoil our fun, Bolshevik!

Get up, you son of a bitch!

Get up!

Let's take a rest, boys.

Well, Ludvik?

Yes, very nice.

So why avoid us?

Does it mean nothing to you?

Remember?

It makes me sick.

That was your favorite!

The songs are as lovely as ever...

but everything else has changed.

You've changed, Ludvik.

I know I have.

I haven't.

It's hard to explain.

I don't understand. You're an odd one.

Excuse me, is comrade Jahn staying here?

Comrade Ludvik Jahn?

I thought you'd stood me up.

- Waiter! - Yes?

- Can we eat? - Not until twelve.

Waiter!

Can we have vodka?

There's no vodka.

- So what do you have? - There's rye and rum.

Two glasses of rye.

Forgive me, do you drink rye?

I've never tried it.

It's a local drink.

I love that sort of thing. Ordinary pubs for truck drivers...

Where the chauffeurs go.

And chase your rum with beer?

Actually, no.

But you like folksy low-class dives.

Yes, I do. I love potato cakes.

Garlic sausage with onion!

Love it!

Let's drink to rye... to ordinary rye!

I've longed for a simple, straightforward man.

There aren't many.

They do exist.

You, for instance.

- Surely not. - Yes.

People should stop pretending.

I like you and want you. Even though you're married.

Why have all this around? These statues of saints.

Why not celebrate life instead of mysticism?

That's nonsense.

- Isn't it? - No it isn't, Helena.

You're perfectly right.

Life is beautiful.

Life is fantastic. We're in a strange town, together.

Come and see my private wine cellar.

Right here. A real Moravian wine cellar.

You must have had many women.

They taught you to take these things lightly.

I had many women.

But with you it's different.

You wouldn't say this if you didn't mean it.

I mean it, Helena.

I was waiting for you before I even met you.

I must have you.

It's as strong as fate.

It's the same with me.

I was scared, I'm married.

But I feel this is right.

You are my truth.

And you are mine.

Who is your husband, anyway?

- My husband... - You were in an ensemble together...

That's where we met.

A beautiful setting for lovers.

Do you like to think back too?

It was the most precious time of my life.

Did you marry your first love?

I must tell you where I met him.

Where?

At a political demonstration.

You don't say?

Some anniversary...

politicians on the grandstand...

everyone shouting slogans...

you know.

I stood next to Pavel

and realized he was shouting something different!

- He was singing. - Singing?

He sang...

That was Pavel. He knew how to win people's hearts.

Get undressed, Helena.

Get undressed.

No, don't look at me, please don't.

I want to see you.

The light is too bright.

It's good, get undressed.

Come to me!

Come, come.

We're building a bright new world

Looking forward to the future...

The world is for the young...

Darling, what are you doing?

Come here... Come.

Sit beside me.

What do you want?

You'll be surprised, I'm in love!

Fill it up, I want to be happy.

You don't need vodka.

But I want some!

Leave the bottle.

- I knew right away. - What?

That I'd love you.

You remind me of Pavel.

What did you say?

Darling, did I offend you?

I haven't lived with him for three years.

- What? - I don't live with him.

- You're lying! - No I'm not.

We share a flat but not the bed

so don't be jealous.

- You're lying. - I'm not lying.

Come and dance. Come!

Tell me you like me!

See you at the procession.

Good evening.

How is it great?

A flat chest and a male voice.

I thought you loved her.

That wasn't love.

It was hate.

A pity.

I shouldn't have told you, your conscience...

You hate everyone, Ludvik.

Why should I love them?

You don't ask questions, Jesus gives you orders.

I need a reason for everything.

They kicked me out of college too.

But I'm not on your side.

You can't forget how they all voted against you.

You think all men are your enemies.

No, not all men, just my friends.

My best friends voted against me.

You still haven't forgiven them.

You blame all mankind.

A world without forgiveness... is hell.

You live in hell, Ludvik.

- Excuse me, hello. - Hello, what are you doing here?

- Hello. - Hello.

- I must get a drink. - Go.

I don't want to intrude but...

- Are you all right? - Pavel, I'm not alone any longer.

- Your slivovitz is super. - Home-made.

Hello, Ludvik.

Hi.

It's been a long time.

Vera!

Come and be introduced.

A classmate from college.

- Brozova, a pleasure. - Jahn.

To meet you in this hole!

I was born here.

In that case it's no hole.

I'm not surprised to find you here.

You always liked folklore.

We didn't come here for that!

No, I was lecturing in Bratislava.

I stopped to see my wife.

Don't you like the "King's Procession"?

Yeah, but if they ran wild it'd be more fun!

Don't be offended,

these youngsters are different.

What were you like, then? What was he like?

Back in college days?

Well...

popular.

He still is.

Witty, brilliant...

You all adored him, huh?

We adore him too.

I want some ice cream.

- These 20-year-olds really are different. - Really?

But that's why I like them.

We spent our lives at meetings.

They travel.

We wanted to save the world, they think only of themselves.

That's why they might even succeed.

- A horse kicked me. Have some. - No thanks.

There might even be some fun!

It's a bit old-world now.

I remember your national costume at the May Day parade.

That I can't imagine!

Neither can I, now.

All the parades and jubilation

were just the wall behind which innocent people

were condemned and executed.

We lived in a prison with brass bands playing on the balconies.

There's Helena.

She looks great.

I understand you like her.

I don't object at all.

But you have a rival.

Her assistant is mad about her.

That youngster?

Don't underestimate him.

- Surely you could handle him! - I don't know.

Don't forget I was in the mines.

In the mines?

A summer job?

- Yeah. - Where? - For six years.

Where?

- Hello. - Will the gentlemen have a drink?

No thanks.

Nobody wants a drink...

- So you've met? - We've known each other years.

- What? - We were in college together.

- What a coincidence. - They will happen.

I haven't introduced you. This is Jindra.

- Jindra Tkadlecka. - I'm Jahn.

I got this as a present. Pretty, isn't it?

It suits you.

We thought you'd come with us, but...

I'm sure you'd rather drive with Ludvik.

- Are you coming with us? - You are here by car?

I don't have a car.

A comfortable trip back then, in good company.

- I drive fast, you'll be scared. - Jindra, don't brag.

We'd take you, but I'm sure

you prefer a new girl friend to an old pal.

- We'll be saying goodbye. Bye, Helena. - Bye.

- See you later. - Bye.

Jindra, please leave us for a minute.

I must tell you, I have only you now.

- What's the matter? - He brought her here, the bastard.

I told him everything, I'm getting a divorce.

- Nonsense! - Ludvik...

Hello!

That's absolute nonsense!

I couldn't live a lie...

I love you, so I can't live with him.

- But that's just bunk. - No, dear...

I'm so happy we're together!

But I don't love you.

That's not true, you do! Embrace me.

- Let me go. - Embrace me!

Ludvik, wait, wait!

It's not true, say it isn't!

There was never anything between us.

You want to get rid of me, but I refuse to let you go!

I refuse! I refuse! You're mine!

I want to ask a favor.

Could I play with you tonight?

Come along.

Have a drink!

Helena, what's wrong?

Go away.

Go away!

- I've taken a poison. - Helena!

Go away.

I'm all alone now.

That's not true, Helena. I love you.

If you only knew, that scoundrel...

I'll kill him!

Jindra, I'm dying.

I've eaten all your pills.

No, that was only a laxative, Helena.

What? Go away!

Go away! Go away!

Helena, I'll find him.

I can't play for such people.

Let's go out into the fields and play for our own pleasure.

- Like we played before. - Yes, let's go.

We've got a contract to play until morning. We can't do this to them.

How can we play here?

What do we play for such people?

I wanted to give them pleasure.

- Is it your heart? - No...

My arm, I think.

What is it?

- Damnation. - I'll see to it.

What a pity now that you're here...

Wait.

It wasn't you I wanted to beat up.

END