Original subtitles

Polish Film Units The Film Unit "KRAJ" present

Christine!

Good morning.

Get me the thermos, Piotrus.

Here, put it under.

Here.

Why did you tear out the page?

To make some shade for you.

What shade?

Nobody ever looked after me like Piotr.

Because nobody ever loved you as he does.

You always exaggerate.

He didn't notice the Sistine Chapel or the Louvre.

But he did notice that you wear no bra.

Come here.

Is it true that you love me?

Yes.

Let go of him.

I love you too.

Basia!

That's my latest purchase. Nice, isn't it?

Just change.

PERSONAL SEARCH

Screenplay by

Photographed and directed by

Starring

With

Music by

Hello.

Hello.

What are you waiting for?

They'll show up.

As soon as they've rubbed off the sleep

from their droopy eyes

and stuffed their shirts into their pants.

They may be asleep.

They'll show up, don't worry.

Blow the horn, that'll bring them out.

They must've got loaded last night.

Where are we?

At the border. Let's go in.

Got the declaration and passport?

That's it. To work, Krysia!

Hello.

Hello.

Sorry we had to wake you up, perhaps interrupting a sweet dream?

- Here. - Thank you.

My son's asleep in the car.

Which one of you is driving?

Here.

Have you anything to declare?

Here.

Nothing in it.

Oh, sorry! How thoughtless of me!

We've been on the road all night.

Tights, lingerie.

Three men's shirts.

Toilet seat cover.

Two bottles of liqueur.

Three bottles of whiskey. What else?

Sauces.

Yes, you are right. Sauces.

Spices.

Tiles. That's it.

We are done.

Here it is.

Any foreign currency?

Small change only.

Two-forty.

And you?

Less than two.

Any printed matter, films, records?

No, none of those.

Thank you.

Could I see the car now?

Krysia, take the officer to the car.

Sit down, please.

Thank you.

- Your assistant's very eager. - Like all beginners.

What a lovely place!

Did you leave the country through this post?

- I'm afraid not. - That's a pity.

You can't see the difference from the others.

I had some wonderful redecorating done here.

- It looks wonderful indeed. - Doesn't it?

Let me show you. Please.

Inlaid work this.

Done on special order.

Thirty-two kinds of wood in one piece.

Marvelous!

Take a seat, please.

What's your profession?

Forgive my asking, but I'm looking for an ornithologist.

- You're what? - All sorts of people come this way.

Experts.

I'm afraid I'm no bird expert.

But I'd like to help if I can.

Excuse me.

Would you like to have a look?

- I can see a tree. - Up that tree trunk.

I can see a nest.

With a cuckoo nestling. The cuckoo builds no nest.

The female mates with several mates at a time.

She plants her eggs in nests of smaller birds.

Her young grow faster and push the other nestlings out.

I've been wondering, how can such whoring,

forgive the expression, occur in Nature.

I'll find out for you if you're so interested.

And write to you about it.

I'd be most obliged.

Here's my card.

I won't forget.

Cigarette?

Thank you.

My husband got this lighter from a woman.

I can't say I liked this.

I'd rather another man made use of it.

Can I go to the car now?

Sure.

- What's this? - Tights.

And this?

Everything alright.

You own a Polish Fiat?

Yes, here it is.

That's an Italian Fiat 15oo.

The plaque was stuck on at the garage during examination.

Expert make up.

Your husband'll love it.

My dear sir,

you can check the engine and chassis numbers.

And let me worry about my husband loving it or not.

Sorry, madam.

Foreign appearance, but the soul's Polish.

These are Polish numbers and no mistake.

Krysia, get in.

What are they doing?

The elder one's sitting on a bench.

Looking our way?

No.

OK. This man wants us to feel his power.

Excuse me, are we waiting for anything?

Yes.

May I ask what for?

I fail to understand.

I think we do understand each other.

- Cigarette? - Not on an empty stomach.

I admit I didn't declare everything.

Here.

I felt embarrassed about this.

That's a trifle.

Hand me the keys.

Here.

Excuse me, could you offer me a cigarette?

- There you go. - Thank you.

The first Polish cigarette in three months.

The first Polish cuckoo.

He loves me... he loves me not...

loves... not...

- Does he? - He does.

That's the thing.

I saw such wonderful things, a pity he wasn't with me.

He couldn't come?

Doing his graduate thesis. It's the most important thing for us.

Anything wrong?

Nothing special.

Just attempted bribery.

Krysia, come here for a minute.

Not now.

It's very important. Really.

It may be very important.

Excuse me.

- What is it? - Get in.

- Why are you smoking? - Aren't you cheeky!

Why were you telling him such crap?

What's come over you? None of this is true!

None of your business.

How dare you speak to me like this, kid?

I'm sorry.

Could you offer me a cigarette?

Here.

Thank you.

You know what I missed most abroad?

A Polish cigarette, I guess?

I took the liberty of leaving some Chesterfields in the office.

What a pretty view you have here.

Pretty.

All sorts of people come this way.

Sometimes I seem to see the whole country from here.

Your work's interesting.

People don't like us.

What you do is unfortunately necessary.

In this kind of job delicacy and intuition count most.

That's right.

We can't strip everyone naked.

Is there a hotel or motel nearby?

There's a motel 5 kilometres away. It opened last week.

Lovely.

You know what?

If you won't mind, I'll cross out one bottle of spirits

from the declaration and we'll have one for the road.

I can't forbid that.

Come in.

You frightened me.

Walking like a ghost.

I acquired this habit as a boy-scout.

A few years've passed since then, eh?

Oh well.

Sweetie!

- The ladies want to say goodbye. - Yes.

Sit down, gentlemen. Now I'm the hostess here.

Have you any wine-glasses in your household?

Not for liqueur, no.

Any glasses will do.

Cointreau in mustard jars? Shocking!

How then shall we solve the problem?

It's kind of you to want to say goodbye so nicely.

We were fortunate to come across such nice customs officers.

It's good to hear Polish after 3 months.

How about a shot in mustard jars?

If only because no one in the West would do it.

Sorry, my upbringing forbids it.

It was nice meeting you.

But we must be off.

I'll most certainly write about the cuckoo.

Just a minute!

Yes?

"What a pretty view you have here!"

"What you missed most abroad was a Polish cigarette!"

How about putting a stop to this kidding, this bullshit?

Why are they picking on you?

You wouldn't understand. They're just envious.

What of?

Everything.

The way we look, our car, our trip abroad.

I'll explain later.

Wait for us in the car, dear.

I came to apologize.

What for? For taking me for a fool?

I'd like to declare what I'd left out. May I?

There you go.

Write.

Here you go.

- Is this everything now? - Yes.

We've understood each other after all.

I think so, I apologize once more.

- I'm afraid you'll have to wait. - What for?

For the second shift to examine your car.

And for a woman officer to examine you.

You mean you've decided on a personal search?

You can't be serious.

I'm afraid I am.

I can't wait.

Sorry, nothing doing.

Keep the ladies company, Sweetie.

Here's my husband's card. Put a call through to him.

Private calls on reversed charge only.

Let it be on reversed charge.

- The last number is it? - Yes, the last one.

Go the car and bring the bag with the food

and let them have the car keys.

You're through.

Jurek! Hello, darling.

I'm calling from the custom-house.

I have to wait here until noon unfortunately.

No women officers on this shift.

I see.

Yes... yes...

a bit.

Two of them.

My husband would like a word with you.

Good morning.

Yes, I can hear you.

Just a minute.

That'll be 1o1-682.

Hello, hello?

Hello!

Where did you learn your English?

Yes, I yelled, at your Mother.

I'm sorry.

I shouldn't do such things.

You won't talk to me?

- What about? - Anything you want.

Will you tell me what a personal search means?

Alright. Come on.

Sorry for breaking into your office.

It occurred to me that since we have to wait till noon,

we could have breakfast together.

The young officer warned us it was your office.

Sorry I kept you waiting.

Get breakfast ready, Sweetie.

You'll excuse me, but customs officers are allowed

to eat their own food only.

I'm sorry! I didn't know. Forgive the intrusion.

Never mind since you're here. We'll manage somehow.

I never had breakfast like this.

What a subject for a gifted artist.

"Breakfast with Customs Officers".

A table divided in two by a white line.

And absolutely two loaves of bread.

I'd try to be as natural as possible in the circumstances.

Unrestrained and easy.

Here's to you, sweet gentlemen!

Do you like Japanese oysters?

I may for all I know. Never tasted them.

A drop of lemon?

An oyster without a drop of lemon is like a bite of herring

without a drop of vodka.

And a drop of vodka without a bite of cheese

is neither fish nor fowl.

I understood in the West what a sense of humor we Poles have.

Over there they don't see how absurd things can be.

A shrewd remark. What else have you understood there?

That we have no idea how to choose drinks or season food.

Take for instance spaghetti.

Seasoning turns it into spaghetti milanese,

spaghetti al burro,

spaghetti alle matriciano, spaghetti alla carbonara.

Me, I love gin and tonic.

Gin's alright but Cointreau's the king of drinks for me.

I want a book from the car.

Wait for a sandwich.

Thanks, I'm not hungry.

Open the car for him.

You have a good son.

That's something I did well.

That's quite a lot.

I would wish for more sometimes.

My husband and I try to give him all we couldn't have.

Fill the ladies glasses, Sweetie.

I wonder who invents such jokes in Poland?

We have specialists in this.

Easy, Mr. Sweetie!

Why this incongruous nick-name?

Let Sweetie himself tell you.

Be a man, Sweetie, don't let the ladies beg you.

- Will you tell us? - He will, he will.

I'm afraid he won't.

So, a couple of weeks ago. About 6 p.m.

An elegant foreigner came in here.

Lukasz here was on duty.

At first sight I didn't take him for a smuggler.

But Lukasz had a hunch he might be.

So he asked the man to bring in his luggage.

And began a thorough personal search.

I didn't want to interfere in such a delicate situation.

So I went out for a breath of fresh air.

There was silence in the house.

Suddenly Lukasz rushed outside red as a beet.

And, I heard the man calling:

"Come back, Sweetie! Come back!"

It's a good thing he didn't come after him.

Is this true, Sweetie?

Get out! Get out!

I'm terribly sorry.

Here, wipe your mouth.

What do you want?

I'm sorry Lukasz.

- It'll get wet. - Never mind.

You're so pretty.

When's the second shift due?

In about 2 hours.

Get me a cigarette.

The first Polish-made bicycle, remember?

It was called "Gromada".

He got one for riding the country as an activist.

We covered hundreds of miles around the villages.

What district?

Rzeszów, then Kielce.

He canvassed for co-operative farming.

Did you canvass too?

He always got beaten up when he went alone.

Tell me, what does socialist morality mean?

Why are you asking?

I'm not joking or trying to catch you.

I used to be an activist in Cracow district.

People would always ask me that.

I'd quote the classics faithfully.

Then one day the lights went out and somebody shouted:

"Say it in your own words!"

And?

Nothing.

The lights came on again and I went on quoting.

I understood only much later what this guy was driving at.

Lukasz!

- Are you looking at me? - Yes.

Come closer.

Make some shade over my face.

Yes?

Speaking.

Who?

Yes, yes.

Yes, they're here.

Yes.

No.

Yes, I see.

Kamikaze.

- You know who this is? - No.

A Kamikaze makes a beautiful start. He's always first.

First in study, first in battle.

Remember this slogan?

Around the age of thirty he becomes dangerous.

His course is set, he has flaps over his eyes.

He makes people feel uneasy.

When he's hit properly, he spins down spectacularly.

A heart attack, prison, suicide.

Best for him that way.

The hardest of the species keep on flying.

Though abandoned and solitary.

No one takes them seriously any more.

But I didn't need to tell you all this, Roman.

What's so sad about it is,

that people like you land in some forsaken spot with no money.

They mean nothing, they deceive themselves

and their wives that it was necessary, that it was good.

Good.

You told me my life story.

What's my future going to be like?

It's all in your face.

There's failure in your eyes.

And a hint of a shadow over your face.

Bitterness.

It gets ever harder to hide the wise time of lonely revolt.

Ever harder to cover up with a smile hours of unfulfilled kisses.

You'll fail here too in the end.

Because one day you'll rip open the wrong car.

Your second husband?

Yes, it is.

A new life from there on.

An experienced, mature and determined woman

made her choice listening to her common sense.

Too tired to listen to her heart.

Listen, Lukasz.

Basia's husband's a big shot.

They'll put all the blame on me.

Will you help me?

You want to strike a bargain, eh?

You lie with me thinking all the time:

Will he cover up for me or won't he?

- It's business you're after? Say it. - Yes.

You've grown.

What's the matter?

Everything'll be OK, don't worry.

Here you are at last.

This is my husband.

Basia.

Allow me to introduce myself.

My identification.

Leave us for a minute, will you?

I want a word with you before, darling.

Have you declared everything?

- Yes. - Yes, exactly.

Any foreign currency?

Yes.

Don't worry.

Things never come to the worst.

Take care of Piotr.

What are you up to, boys?

Want a drink?

That's your wife's liqueur-glass.

Isn't it stuffy in here!

It's going to rain.

It was suffocating in town.

The peasants' hay'll get wet.

Basia told me so much about you that

it seems ridiculous to address you officially.

My name's George.

Roman.

What did she tell you?

That she loves you, that you're a real men.

And soon... about life.

She always does that when she's had a drop.

Why don't you sit down?

Roman, I too sit on your side of the desk, and

I know the taste of power.

It's easy to undo somebody when they're at your mercy.

In life there's no clear distinction between white and black.

You mean that between white and black there's grey and

that's fine.

There's a saying:

"Do not bite off more than you can chew!"

There's another one:

"Every fox must pay his skin to the furrier!"

You won't get away with this, you're too small.

Let's forget the incident.

How can that be done?

- May I ask you something? - Goon.

When did you drop behind?

Several times.

I see. Now you want to take it out on me.

In my position, it's enough if you report this.

You happen to be in authority.

They were trying to fool you, right.

But you're using this to undo me.

You were right to frighten them.

I'd have done the same in your place.

I'm sure they regret it now.

Roman, don't do this to me!

I never begged anyone like this.

Roman, I have a kid!

Fuck off!

What're you doing here?

- I heard everything. - Get out! Quick!

Go, dear.

Well?

I'll do anything you say. Tell me what.

Clear the table.

The keys and passports are over there.

Please take them.

Piotr!