All language subtitles for Mowa ptaków ENG

-295.
-Go!

Put your weight on your left leg.
OK. Set.

And... action!

To reveal I know where I come from,
what blood I am born with.

There must be some rules. God.

And they, according to my father,
were living in a state of quasi-delirium,

when the first movies were
like gates to freedom.

When you kill, you leave only a trace.

So yours is the work of purgation.

Purge!

The task was to figure out how to live.

The occupation in Lviv

they spent in such a state
of manic depression,

to be able to support a family,
that is me,

and then my sister,
who sadly died of hunger.

So when I was told
I can make my first movie,

I decided to make a movie about this.

A ragged kid plodding through

the snow gets to Arcadia.

-Chojnacka Katarzyna.
-Present.

Czyż Karolina.

-Present.
-Januszewska Edyta.

Present.

-Krzyżanowska Anna.
-Present.

-Kugel Paweł.
-Present.

-Lipski Emil.
-Present.

-Mandziewski Paweł.
-Present.

-Matczak Mikołaj.
-Present.

-Martwicki Olaf.
-Present.

-Olszewski Kacper.
-Excuse me?

Present.

-Palkowski Grzegorz.
-Present.

-Pasik Konrad.
-Present.

-Salewicz Agata.
-Present.

-Sierzputowska Natalia.
-Present.

SUBJECT: BAPTISM OF POLAND

In history, everything is ultimately
a question of religion,

and that's because religion is ideology.

So the reason
the Commonwealth of Two Nations

never became
a Commonwealth of Three Nations

was that the Catholic Church
regarded Orthodoxy as a schism...

-A what -ism?
-Jism.

...an abomination...

-A word.
-Komorusskie.

...and that brought about
the downfall of Poland:

a downfall that had been imminent
ever since its rulers...

When Poland let the Jews in!

Poland, the Jewish paradise.

-Mazowiecki was Jewish.
-Who?

This Commie Jew who became prime
minister when Communism was over.

Over where?

He had to show a certificate
saying he was baptized.

Where'd you get that from, dumbass?

It was on TV.

Should've looked in his undies.

That's how you can tell them.

Clipped dicks.

I won't stand it!

Oh yeah?
How about you show us yours!

-You can't do that. This is school.
-Jews out!

Russkies out!

...and that brought about
the downfall of Poland:

A downfall that had been imminent
ever since its rulers...

When the country

accepted Christianity from the hands
and mouths of German bishops...

Look and learn, baby.

...instead of Cyril and Methodius.

Who's that, fool?

Cyrillic!

Orthodicks!

Jew-Communism!

Communism!

Yids.

Otherwise Poland would have been
the westernmost outpost of the East,

instead of the eastern
frontier of the West.

Let the Jew have it, Marcysia?
Right in the sidelocks?

Right in the sidelocks!

Who wants a piece of this?

Our colleagues have refused to name
the ringleaders behind this incident,

which I find most puzzling...

But you have all seen

the film that a student has made
with their phone.

Whose identity I am not disclosing
to spare them reprisals by the class.

How very appropriate for a teacher
of Polish Literature

and Ethics?

How many students
do you have in your class?

-Eleven in Polish Lit.
-I meant your Ethics class.

-Two.
-Well, my classes are always full.

Your line of reasoning, Ludwik,

as I have been told by some
of the better students?

You mean those young fascists.

You're barking mad.

And as respects
bringing a knife to class?

As regards. It's only Russians
who say "as respects".

I move that the Principal
as quickly as possible?

One must get rid of the
bad apples before they rot.

Informed advice from our Biology
and Life Sciences teacher.

I was referring to those
juvenile delinquents.

The all-too-brief careers
of these young and hapless educators?

We ask you, O Lord

-Our freedom restore.
-Order, please!

What's next?

There is no next.

The school council will decide
what is to be done with the two of you.

A hearing in front of the Board
and a ban on teaching.

Me too?

That knife, Marian.

Unethical?

I got my own life classic
I use on them, professor.

Natural science!

Who brought the recording at all?

The phone was left by the door
to the principal's office.

Smack 'em on the head, professor.
Then grab 'em by the balls.

Well, see you later.

-How did it go, professor?
-Shitty!

So what else is new.

You take care now.

I'm not a child.
I know how to make films.

And you can afford a new phone?

Makes you want to twist the knife in,
right?

Dad!

Andrzej!

You left your key in the lock again.

I couldn't get in.

What?

I'm sorry.

I remember when I'm wearing it,
but I can't sit by the door

with that string around my neck
like I was hanging myself.

So they expelled our colleague after all.

So you had to take that goddamn blade?

I forgot.

I went straight to school from the station
when I got back from dad's place.

Your brother gave it to you?

For safekeeping.
So it wouldn't tempt him.

How is your dad?

Not talking.

He's gone silent
and he's staying that way.

I remember when he did talk.

I prefer not to.

So what now?

I'll keep my eyes open.

Go in for manual work,
as my father would say.

I don't remember your father that well.

Because he used to sneak out of the
house at dawn and get back real late.

So mother wouldn't give him any grief
whenever he got fired from another job.

Until he went in for manual work.

He was promoted!

Me, I'm on my way down.

I could have been a virtuoso
if it weren't for this.

Repeat.

I could have been a virtuoso
if it weren't for this!

And my mother wouldn't have
pined away in disappointment.

An appointment...

with disappointment.

I won't let anyone say
anything bad about my mother.

She got me where I am today.

Those women were like tanks.

Does it hurt?

Leprosy doesn't hurt.

I'm the leper here.

But you have great legs.

Look down!

I got Stravinsky on sale for a tenner.

I found the Allmans in the trash.
Some moron threw it away.

Is it time for my lesson?

As long as it's not too hard.

I love you so, oh Jimmy Joe

What's that?

Tempi passati.

I don't have any talent, do I?

What was learned has been lost.

Like paradise.

You read it to me yourself.

That's some memory you have, though.

Like a lizard's.

They said it's going to rain.

Wait.

As long as it's warm.

What do you even want
with a dimwit like me?

Who else would bandage
my fingers so nicely?

This dimwit is good at
cleaning, cooking and ironing.

O, divine dimwit.

You're not going out
scrubbing floors again.

It's to keep us in bread and lard.

HISTORIAN

Mr. Ludwik?

The District Superintendent is sick,
I'm sitting in for her.

Follow me, please.

Please.

You await a disciplinary transfer
to another school

where you'll be assigned
younger students.

On what grounds?

Improper pedagogical conduct.

You're not keeping them on a leash.

So you believe in leashes?

What about Marian?

This isn't the first school he's been?

You have the same last name he does.

It just happened.

I'll appeal against being repealed.
I don't want to leave that school.

You told them things
they didn't want to hear.

-This could end very badly.
-For whom?

You're supposed to be
the adult here, not them.

-Adults are the worst.
-Just like if I was listening to Marian.

Whose idea was it for the
two of you to part? Yours or his?

You're weak.

The reed straightens after
the horde has passed.

-I hope you...
-Am I interrupting?

Never.

Just wanted to report that

I managed to get tickets to that
sand mandala ceremony

at the Contemporary Art Centre.

And here we were talking about Buddhism.

-It's the monks from Dharamsala!
-Coloured markers.

-All week pouring sand.
-Sand gets in your eyes.

-What the eyes don't see...
-I wish--

And I wish you fidelity.

Remember that the Dalai Lama
was a protégé of Mao's.

I can't help being a smart-ass.

Listen...

Come on.

Did you go there?

I wouldn't do that.

I saw your...
Your ex-wife.

And?

They let me off easy.
But you...

She's not alone.
I mean...

She never was.

Obviously.

A fair lady.

Count Tolstoy said:

"The greatest mistake we make
is to confuse beauty with goodness."

Who?

Leo.

When the lion wanted
to eat a monkey in the jungle,

the monkey refused
to come down from its tree,

so the lion said:
'"You're dead to me."

When we were on a student trip to Georgia,
our hosts proposed a toast to Stalin.

"But he murdered your people
just like he murdered ours," we said.

And they said: "What is the most
effective animal in the jungle?

The one that feeds on all the others."

Long live!

I don't like animals.

Dogs.

Horses.

-Spiders.
-You don't like cats either?

-Eating. Breeding. Teeth and tentacles.
-Maggots.

I meant to give it back, but...
You'll need it.

Shoo, kid!

THIS PLACE WAS SANCTIFIED
BY THE BLOOD OF THE POLES

FALLEN FOR THE FREEDOM OF
THEIR HOMELAND

Where's the student on duty?

Today we'll be talking
about Mieszko the First

and about the baptism of Poland,

which brought this country
the glorious achievements

of Catholicism and of the West...

The decline of the West.

My man! Telling it like it is.

Get him here!

Go on!

Shirt!

Sit down, sit down!

Undress. Sit down!

-Whatcha got in your pants, teach?
-Undress teach, undress!

Ask!

To question or not to question?

-Hard Times.
-Great Expectations!

Frisk him, sugar-tits.

Fuck, show me.

Get up, get up.

We have P.E. last period. You're
joining us out on the court, teach.

And getting a medal for bravery.

Teach is getting a gold star.

Sickle and hammer
Commies belong in the slammer!

Goal for the Poland team!
Take him around the world, hot stuff.

Sickle and hammer
Commies belong in the slammer

See, teacher!

Tonight at the game, we'll hit the
terrace with our new pal, the prof.

The stadium rocks.

Ok, come on. Let's go!

Come on.

Come on, let's go.

You'll see what's going to happen.
Come on.

-High-five him, teach.
-But he stood up for me.

A jock standing up for an egghead?

-Polonia is Legia's sworn enemy.
-Precisely.

Jew

Good shot, teach.
Warsaw Uprising.

Operation Arsenal.

The German won't spit in our face!

Go on, go on!

Hit him!

We've got it! That's right!

-Now to make sure he's in the dark, too.
-Easy. Nobody saw a thing.

In honour of our teach.

He was the one who did this.
Badass!

Badass!

Avenge the Smolensk massacre!

We're outta here, crew.

Know, peasants, who's the master!

I hate!

Arcadia?

A preamble.

He ambled into the abyss.
It was on the way.

On the way?

On the Way would make a good title.

Read me some?

-Not yet.
-Then tell me about it.

So there's this ragged kid
plodding through the snow,

who gets to Arcadia.

What does it look like?

It's covered by a dome
of a translucent, opalescent substance.

And underneath?

A huge palace.

Anyone live there?

An assembly of refugees

running around in 18th century garb.

Frock coats, breeches and periwigs.

So what do they do there?

Write, paint, compose.

Any women?

Ladies?

Yes. Artificial ones.

Artificial? How?

Brought to life with a wave of the hand,

when one feels so inclined.

And if one doesn't?

They freeze.

All?

All except one.

The one the kid falls in love with.

No, she...

is the wife of the Master of the realm.

Is he old?

No. But he's perfect.

Meaning?

He shuns sex.

So how does it end?

I'll tell you when I figure it out.

Okay, I'll go.

They compose, you say...

They play instruments.

Do me a favour.
Will you write the lyrics?

I haven't written a poem
since I was eighteen.

The title was Above Water.

And it was about having an abortion.

After that I never...

You never what?

Loved.

So what?

-A hit?
-For lack of anything better.

A cruel girl, she stole from me.

My heart and time, my nights and days.

We'll sell it for a million.

You really believe that?

Before I rot away for good.

Wait...

Any news on that front?

Just today.

Will you come with me?

Do you plan on getting smashed?

Some.

So I will go.

Marian squints in the glare
on this day so fair.

And walks down...

I got a new phone.

-You're not at school?
-I'm making a film about school.

But I need a romantic lead.

Every film and every book
has a love story.

Not every one does.

But you said so yourself.

Shows how much I know.

And you have to follow
one selected protagonist.

Which one?

The one who's unhappiest.

Because it's a tear-jerker?

A tear-jerker and a spine-chiller.

"I smyeshno i strashno, kak tigra yebat."

What does that mean?

Funny and terrible, like fucking a tiger.

It would be a good song.

You look like that actor Borys Szyc.

I feel like shit.

Maybe?

May!

Does anybody bring May flowers?

They do. I come from a wealthy family.
And my father has even horses!

-And I owe you one.
-What for?

For having the courage
to get the principal to see the film.

But you got fired anyway.

Better to be fired for pulling a knife
than for being mean-spirited.

You believe in spirits?

In a way.

So yours is the work of purgation.

Purge!

Marian squints in the glare
on this day so fair.

I got a new phone.

You're not at school?

I'm making a film about school,
but I need a romantic lead.

Every film and every book
has a love story.

Not every one does.
I told you.

-But you said so yourself.
-Shows how much I know, right?

And you have to follow
one selected protagonist.

Which one?

-The one who's unhappiest.
-Because it's a...

...tear-jerker.

-A tear-jerker and a spine-chiller.
-A tear-jerker and a spine-chiller.

"I smyeshno i strashno,
kak tigra yebat. Da?"

What's that mean?

Funny and terrible, like fucking a tiger.

No?

It would be a good song.
Good morning.

You look like that Szyc.

I feel like shit

-But maybe...
-May.

Does anybody bring May flowers?
They do.

They do.
I come from a wealthy family.

And my father has even horses!

And I owe you one, yes?

What for?

For having the courage to get the
principal to see the film

how it was. Was it?

Was it?

But you got fired anyway.

Better to be fired for pulling a knife
than for being mean-spirited.

-You believe in spirits?
-In a way.

Good morning.

Something for thirty. Can you make it?

Is it for a girl?

Say you were picking for yourself?

The Polish street
doesn't want the leftists!

I used to teach literature to those kids,

and I told them how novels
were influenced by the movies.

And what?

The Polish street
doesn't want the leftists!

I'm not that well orientated.

Orient is the East, dear miss.

Roses come from the East.

These come from Holland.
They're very beautiful.

Do they smell?

Not a lot of flowers smell these days.

Pecunia non olet.

-Excuse me?
-Pecunia is known to be oily.

Why's that?

So you can get yourself a flower.

Does it hurt?

When you come home

After many, many years

You'll find a fresh bouquet

As if you'd never left

Just don't get yourself a chrysanthemum.

Not even a honey-gold one
like in the song?

Love

You have a nice voice.

Literature and film.

I bow to thee.

Come back, my lil' John
From this lil' war, come back.

ORPHAN

Could you give me a hand
with this damn thing?

Single or double?

Double loop.

Like Józef does his.

Józef, so is that your father
or your brother?

I was raised in an orphanage.

Go ahead, touch it.

Made of the finest wool. Merino.

Like in The man with the white eyes.

My roommate teaches Polish and Literature.

Well, love to stay and chat, but there's
a fire I need to put out at the bank.

Good morning, Ma'am.

No lard left.

I didn't come for lard.

I want herrings.

Mind if I turn on the dishwasher?

I could really go for something sour...

Sauerkraut juice.

I'll pop over to the store.

It's in the pantry.

You'll do my hair when you get back.

And then I'll show you those
photos from South Africa.

Is that where you buy your boats?

Yachts, snookums! Yachts!

Colossal investment.

And to think that me and my husband
were both born in one-horse towns.

They make sausages out of horses.

The onions are delicious.

Mares, merino?

You're a fine heifer.

But I don't want to have children.

Silly girl!
It's an investment.

Kids scare me.

Now why is that?

Because they grow up.

-I learned that in--
-Yes, I know.

-That's where you met yours...
-No.

I was cleaning at a mental hospital
and he kept his mother there.

That's cruel.

Children are cruel.

Sour juice...

Sour juice...

Ah, sour juice.

What a makeup!

And a perm too.

-Who's got a lovely blue rinse, then?
-I do.

They say the devil is beating his
wife when the sky's like that.

Are you doing all right?

Marian's paying to live in your room

so I can afford to pay
for your upkeep here.

It's better this way.

Safer, let's say.

-When I don't think.
-Don't think, Mother.

I think about your father.

That?

That I was the death of him.
I ran him into the ground.

It's not worth it...

It was worth it!

You graduated from the Music Academy,
you were a virtuoso.

I'm not anymore.

Your father was a peasant
and I was a lady.

I remember him as a good man.

He was honest.

That's why he kept getting fired.

He practically never spoke to me.

I was the one who did the nagging.

You want to know what I'll die of?
A guilty conscience.

At the end, he was
just pretending to go to work.

-But he was in charge of the port.
-Port, my ass.

He'd just go out with this bucket.

He even got kicked out of
the sewage company.

Because?

-He refused to steal.
-What was there to steal?

He had his own bucket
and he'd come home

-and rinse it in the sink.
-Of what?

-One time, he brought home...
-Always so well-groomed.

...he brought home a dog,

a stray like him.
I thought I'd go crazy.

You have gone crazy, Mom!

We had it good under Communism.

-He was the right social class.
-A country boy.

We were allotted a place
in the centre of the city.

Common folk moving on up.

I'm not a good Christian.

What do you believe in?

-Your talent.
-I'm rotting away.

And in money.

Where'd you get the money from?

I had something going on the side.

He wasn't your father.

Who was?

How pretty you are!

C'mere.

We'll doll ourselves up.

You're pretty as a doll already.

I have my eyes on a real doll.

-Your husband?
-Silly you, silly...

How silly you are...

This guy who's seriously loaded.

That stings.

Wipe it off.

Like you wipe your feet off.

I'm wiping my feet
and getting out of here.

You know what sex-appeal is?

Sex...

and money.

Money for sex.

You do it?

-I saw it on TV once.
-Not even with that guy of yours?

He's scared of infecting me.

-So you're not infectious?
-No.

Silly!

-You only live once.
-How do you know?

That must be him.

Hello.

Tell Ania to get me
a giant burger and fries.

Fine. I'll tell her.

My husband wants you
to get him some McDonald's.

He's working late today.

He's working late today.

That's bad for the baby.

-None of your goddamn business.
-Sorry.

This burger for him. One of those
double-decker supersized ones.

And don't forget the ketchup.

He needs energy
to bring home the dough.

Yes, ma'am.

Call me Ola.

Ola, pianola, rum, Coca-Cola

We're going to score

So, do you like football players?

Ronaldo, Beckham?

They're so buff.

And Beckham's old lady
is a total trend-setter.

She even designed a car.

Try this on.

Beautiful!

Make a duck face and we're in business.

You,
what do you see in that loser anyway?

He likes me.

Get out of here!

What the hell do I need
this pregnancy for?

Damn him!

Damn him!

Which one?

The one who wouldn't wear a rubber.

Come here.

Pour me a shot.

-Of what?
-Move your ass, dishrag.

Fuck!

I think it's started.

-Call the clinic. Get my...
-Obstruction.

Obstetrician.

Silly.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

You guessed it.

Burgers!

Quack, quack, quack!

Quack, quack, quack!

And what, you little shit?
Did you push the button of the safe?

-Yes.
-What courage!

-Right.
-And the dough is in the safe, right?

-Right.
-Don't worry, we'll fix it...

It's Ania, to see Mr. Jakubiec.

With ketchup?

And mustard.

Meal for one or two?

Your wife said it was just for you.

"Dabbled with his blood the wife.

She who took her husband's life."

Excuse me?

You've never been to my office.
Let me show you around.

Put it down anywhere.

Not here.

Beautiful, aren't they?

World War II. Fighters.

This one's a Jap.

They called it the Zero,

and it was the best in its class
for a long time.

Until the Brits rolled out the Spitfire.

And the Americans
started making Tomcats...

and Hellcats.

Two twenty-millimetre cannons.

Shells this big.

Your food will get cold, sir.

-Call me Mr. Jacek.
-Will get cold, Mr. Jacek.

I'll be going now.

My wife keeps telling me I eat like a pig.

Ania's looking good today.

Thanks to Mrs. Ola.

Mrs. Ola has a bump in her belly

and that's getting me down,
meaning I can't get it up.

Just don't tell her what
I do here after work.

She'll go at me again.

It'll be our secret. Remember.

Sweet like you.

You're not leaving that way.

I need to press
this button to let you out.

But first I have to switch off the alarm,

or else you'll set it off
when you walk down the hall.

Poor thing.

You bet.

You're all filthy.

You bet.

How about you'd be a good girl
and give me a kiss?

PATIENT

No!

Come in.

Dismissed.

No need to feel disgusted.
It's not contagious anymore.

And this?

It was Communism that got me this way.

Were you in the Party
or the Security Bureau?

The Party had three million members.

All of them believers.

Like your father.

How did you know?

Just a shot in the dark.

But we were more into
beating than shooting.

With stool-legs and lead pipes.

Why's that?

That's the way things were.

In the USSR.

Precisely.

And before that?

Auschwitz.

Borowski also got his
education in Auschwitz.

Who?

The best post-war Polish writer.

And?

He wrote a collection
of short stories called

This Way for the Gas,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

and became a commissioner
when the Commies took over.

He still alive?

He stuck his head in a gas oven.

Asshole.

Asshole.

He got it into his head that man
was just a tube full of excrement.

No, sir.

Man? It sounds, oh, so big!

Asshole.

Mickiewicz used to call
his best friend 'Ahoo-eev-ass'.

The Mickiewicz?

Adam, the first man.

-The one who wrote Forefathers Eve?
-And The Ode to Youth, say.

Odious.

Indifference.

Is that what you feel when you see me?

No.

I don't feel a thing.

Go fuck yourself, you little shit.

Damned if I do and damned if I don't.

You stink, you know.

Is that friend of yours syphilitic, too?

Well, whatcha gonna do to me,
you little cunt?

Nothing.

Panta rhei.

Pan Tadeo!

"Faith, my country, thou art like health.

How much thou shouldst be prized
only he can learn who has lost thee."

Good news, I'd say.

Multidrug treatment protocol.

Dapsone, rifampicin and clofazimine

have substantially delayed
the progress of the disease.

Shame we don't know
where you caught it.

Meaning, how in the world?

Consider it a miracle
we don't have to amputate yet.

Your leprosy is of the tuberculoid type.

What does that mean?

It's caused by rod-shaped
mycobacteria resembling TB bacilli.

It's treatable.

There's another hypothesis though.

Out of three types of leprosy,
only one is contagious.

This type?

No, not if it's neurotic.

Oversensitive?

Musician.

You done your national service?

-No.
-Pity.

That hot running water is
at the root of all sorts of rot.

Signature.

We're no strangers to cold water.

I was born in the country; my parents
don't have running water to this day.

My father retired
and moved to the country.

-Why?
-Nature is more accommodating.

Nature...

is our worst enemy.

Yes and no.

What do you mean no?

Sarx i Soma.

Body...

and soul.

So where would you find a soul,
buddy-boy?

In film.

The gentlemen are gay.

-Sodomites.
-Stop blaspheming, you peasant.

Calm down.

Calm down.

Proust was a sodomite, and he authored
the most refined novel ever written.

What the fuck are you saying, sissies?

Up yours, Comrade.

But it's not all like that.

Bird talk.

That's so cruel.

Take titmice,

so small and yellow and graceful,

but they peck out
the brains of sleeping bats.

I had an affair with a Vietnamese girl.

Please repeat.

I had an affair with a Vietnamese girl.

You got it from her?

When the decay set in,
I went to ask her about it.

And?

-She was gone. There was another girl.
-And?

She had the same name.

A lot of them don't have documents.

I hope they ate her...

and were punished.

No time to lose.

We'll write that hit.
As if you never tried before.

I dream of writing a symphony.

I dream of publishing my first novel.

You have plenty of time.

Stendhal wrote his past forty.

Who?

The Red and the Black.

But Stendhal didn't have the movies.

Please!

Camera, went! Action!

Please!

Camera. Went.

And?

You hate him, he killed your mother.
Action!

All I can come up with is a screenplay.

But in verse.

If you can call it verse.

Stop pulling my leg.

Stand up, and don't fucking talk nonsense.
Look around you.

And stop making ruckus
or I'll fuck you up!

Poetry ends where prose begins.

So?

I don't know.

You must compose.

And you, you must write.

-I'm going to write.
-And I'm going to compose.

On three!

-One, two...
-Three!

MARIAN

Could you get me a new name?

-So what is your name?
-Marian.

That's a good name.
After Mary, Mother of God.

Exactly...

My name's Maria.

-And I like it.
-I like you.

I fell off a carpet-beating rack
when I was little.

-I wanted to be a dancer.
-And can't you be one now?

It's all shattered in there.
I'd need an expensive surgery.

-Abroad, most likely.
-Money's tight, huh?

My parents aren't rich.

The reason I'm back is
because you sang to me.

I sing in the church choir.

Soprano?

Are you a musician?

I like listening to music.

Oh my rosemary, bloom

Oh my rosemary, bloom

I'll go see my sweetheart
See my one and only

I'll take the oath

I wanted to ask you out for
coffee, kebab, pizza, burger, but...

But?

Money's tight here, too.
In a couple of days, maybe.

-OK. It'll be my treat then.
-I couldn't allow that.

I can't go out now anyway.
I'd lose my job.

-Do you like bread with lard?
-I like.

-Later.
-I'll wait.

For good luck!

Wait!

Is this where you work?

It's where I do my thing.

And that is?

Whatever I feel like.

Sounds like freedom.

I'm free and unattached.

Did you have a lot of women?

I had a wife.

What about her?

-She made a mistake.
-Meaning, you made it.

And you?

I used to have someone.

He was married, too.

What about him?

He ran off to Australia.

Away from his wife?

I'm hard to live with.

Because of the leg?

It's gross,

-when you see my feet.
-Defeat!

Not feet.

Humility.

-What about now?
-Humility.

That would make a good title.

An epic poem?

I'm supposed to come up
with lyrics to a song.

Whose?

We started writing it with
a friend when we were kids.

Whose? And now?

We started writing it with
a friend when we were kids.

-We still are.
-And now?

I'm supposed to come up
with lyrics to a song.

-Where do your parents live?
-In a block of flats.

-You don't live alone?
-I'm subletting for the time being.

I'm subletting for the time being.
...will be licking...

-Whom?
-...your paretic feet.

My father drives trams
and my mother works in a laundry.

I'll earn the money for your leg.

-Do you want to see it?
-No. I can picture it.

-No, you can't.
-And make love to you?

-Talleyrand had one like that.
-Who?

He was a foreign minister under Napoleon.

I like Napoleon pies.

And before that, he was a bishop and
a high priest of the Goddess of Reason.

There is no Goddess of Reason.

There was!
In the times of Napoleon.

I like Napoleon pies.

They called him The Lame Devil.

Whom?

Talleyrand, damn.

Talleyrand, the prince de Bénévent.

-Décapité!
-De Bénévent, de Bénévent, yes.

And you, who will you be?

I'll be a she-devil then!

And a princess.

In your epic...

It's not an epic, it's a screenplay.

What for?

A film.

Films get written?

Yes!

Everything does.

What?

Write first, shoot later.

Yes!

To kill.

Is that the title?

No!

The title will be...

Bird talk.

Written first, sung later.

Turn it off.

I should say hello.

In a moment.

What's my name?

Maria.

Marian...

and Maria.

Well, isn't that something?

-Does it hurt?
-Nah.

There's no need to curtsy.

It's comes naturally
with this foot of mine.

Make some tea for the lady, will you?

You promised me bread with lard.

Do you read music?

I love to.

I knew it.

-Follow the notes now.
-What about the words?

Make them up.

Did you salt it?

-I spiced it up.
-You pig.

I'll be going now.

Sitz-fleisch.

Sitting-meat...

Do you live far?

I'll catch a tram.
Maybe my father will be driving it.

See you on Monday.
Will you be singing?

I love singing.

And I?

And I don't have a good voice.

You have two good trotters, though.

And a fine head on your shoulders.

So that little gimp girl isn't any good?

I don't know, I don't know.
I can't tell anymore.

I don't know. I can't tell anymore.

Does it have to rhyme?

The Polish songs do rhyme.

Why are they always the same?

I love you, you love me too.

That's what people love,
that's what people buy.

As long as it's cheap,
as long as it's loud.

And dumb!

Why the fuck everything has to rhyme?

That's the shit.

-See you in class.
-It's Sunday tomorrow.

-We'll drop by.
-What for?

-For the lulz.
-Likes and hates.

-You on Facebook?
-No.

Oh, you'll be.

-Neither is the P.E. teacher.
-He doesn't have a face anymore!

He had it coming.

You go to church?

Well, you will now
because we serve at Mass.

I'm gonna puke.

-Not on me you're not.
-What the fuck, you gonna puke?

My old man shits and barfs
himself all the time, and what?

Want me to show you
how he smacks people around?

Father.

Helter-skelter.

Poland has not yet perished.

So long as we still live

Drop it!

Drop it!

SNOOP

-A cruel girl
-A cruel girl

-A cruel girl
-She stole from me

A cruel girl
She stole from me

My will and time, my nights and days

A cruel girl

What should I do
Enlighten me

Night after night...

I'm sorry...

What for?

For plaguing you.

I see you've joined the fascists?

-You have to join somewhere.
-You have to join somewhere.

-Like a ghost?
-A ghost, my ass.

I wanted to give this back.

-It didn't come in handy?
-It did.

Take it.

-Could you lend me a hundred?
-No. Can't.

I can.

-You're still here?
-I'm not here.

Snoop.

The camera's supposed to be invisible.
Like the director.

-Who's the director here?
-Fate.

-I'll pay you back when I get home.
-You're going away?

Just for a day.
I'll scrounge off my father

and brother.

And then?

I'll finish the screenplay.

Sell it, or have it printed.

What if you don't?

I'll get a job as a prole.

Like in Five Easy Pieces.

It's this film with Jack Nicholson.

Yours is going to be about us?

Films are supposed to amuse
and entertain people.

And if they're scary,
it's only make-believe.

And what would ma'am
colleague say to this?

Why don't you come with me tomorrow,
instead of lurking around all the time?

Where to?

To the woods...

by the lake.

Won't your parents be worried?

My parents don't give a shit what I do.

And this is good information.

My father used to be a film director.

And my father died of love-sickness
when my mother passed away.

And?

He's a ghost now.

Be like Maria!

Maria.

Arcadia.

Arcadia.

Arcadia.

I'll come with you.

But first I want to film Maria
singing in the church.

So I'll see you
at the bus station at noon.

Which one?

The Western Bus Station.

We'll watch the sunset by the lake.

-Maybe yes.
-Maybe no.

Maybe no.

Ave Maria

The Lord is with thee

Blessed art thou among women

Save us from a change of fate

Thou canst save amid despair

Safe may we sleep beneath thy care

Save us from a change of fate?

O Mother, hear a suppliant child?

O, holy Maiden

I wanted to be
a part of the grown-up world.

You didn't get that from your father?

Father?

My father was, is, an ogre.

He lives in a fairy tale of his own.

What kind of fairy tale?

One that was cruel
because it was childish.

And now?

Not many people watch his films anymore.

What about that brother of yours?

MASTER

Ladies and gentlemen,

my brother ran away from home
when he was a teenager.

He drifted around a bit
and even spent some time in jail.

Then he went looking for work in England.

He was a painter,
he used to paint, that is, but

he worked on construction
sites over there.

He lost an eye.

-Do you know how?
-How would I?

One night, he bought a car in a pub
from a guy as drunk as he was.

He fell asleep at the wheel.

It was on a huge motorway in London.
There was a car waiting at the lights.

My brother rammed
into it at full speed,

flew through the windshield,
and gouged his eye out.

There was this nurse
who looked after my brother.

He even started painting again,

but then he stole her
silverware and her TV.

He lost his passport
and lived in Tube stations.

-Like a vagrant.
-A what?

-A bum.
-Did he pull himself together?

My father tracked him down.

He was making movies in the West,
so he had money then.

He brought him back home,
bought him an easel.

-Is he a good painter?
-I couldn't say.

He's a wild man.

Marian. You're coming
here more often lately.

In times of need?

-It's just a few kilometres.
-It's pretty here.

Purty.

No?

I came to return the knife.

How old are you, miss?

Seventeen.

Next year.

Sure?

You're purty.

Dad's the one who's purty.

Don't be afraid.

I'm not afraid.

I'm not afraid in the dark
My Father guides me by the hand

I want it too!

-I was going to kill you with that knife.
-Why?

To get you to talk.

I am talking.

How many years has it been?

-Since he made his last film.
-Why's that?

Because they didn't
let him make another one.

It's the only thing I'm good at.

Films matter.

Ego matters.

What?

Me. You.

-Them?
-No.

They don't.

What kind do you like?

-Films?
-Isn't that what we're talking about?

-Old ones.
-Spielberg, Haneke, Polanski?

I only liked one of Polanski's.

Which one?

Two Men and a Wardrobe.

And what about that one,
Fearless Vampire Killers?

A little.

I only made one film in English,
and I'm still living off it, sort of.

-I haven't seen it.
-Want me to show you?

Does it have subtitles?

I'll translate.

Son...

For things to be simple,
there must be a miracle.

I had a friend in London.

He was a great painter,
older than me, and...

He had only one exhibition.

The critics panned it.

Then he cut his throat with that knife.

For things to be simple,
there must be a miracle.

That's when I quit painting
and started working construction.

As a labourer.

As a drunkard.

Were you scared?

He wanted to teach me
something that can't be taught.

Meaning?

I drink for the same reason
father stopped talking.

What's that?

To protest.

Is this the last one?

An erotic.

What's the gender here?

Brutal.

I guess I won't be able
to sell this here, in Brodnica.

Have you sold anything?

The face of the Virgin Mary
for the local church.

It's our mother's face. From when
she acted in father's movies.

And lied through her teeth.

Thank you, very much.

And what?

It's passé,

isn't it?

Passé, is it?

Passé? Right?

Passé, for fuck's sake, isn't it?

Is it?

Fucking passé.

Is it?

I wouldn't know.

You're pretending.

-Pretending what?
-That you don't have any ambition.

I need money.

So that's why you're here?

I met a girl.

She's clubfooted.

I thought of paying to get her leg done.

Ah, OK. So, I have nothing.

-I'll pay you back when...
-When what?

They fired me, understand?

Why's that?

Because of the knife.

-Something to someone?
-I suppose I could have.

-Then you'll finally be able to...
-What?

Move in with us and write that novel.

In verse.

How much have you done already?

-Nothing.
-Are you in love?

-Trying to be.
-Why?

I think she's...

A saint.

Good one.

Dad seems to have fallen
for that girl you brought.

She's a good kid.

We're all good.

Let me paint her.

Do you like her?

She's monstrously pure.

Monstrously pure.

What's she saying?

What's she saying?

That she has God inside her.

That's not right.

God is good.

If he exists.

And she's...

A murderer.

Because she gave birth to...

Evil.

It's only make-believe.

Fiction...

Fiction is wiser than the for-real.

And that's why they don't
let you make films anymore?

I said that when I'm old and tired
I'd start making realist ones

like The Dark House.

But you're not.

Maybe I'll make the last one.

What's it about?

A wife who wants to be faithful
to her husband.

I'd rather watch that...

Maybe the last one.

I'd rather watch that than this filth.

Than?

This filth.

The hand of God...

skimmed over the waters.

And an angel flied past.

For the world...

in its chaos

took on the form of love.

Ruthless

and sharp...

as a knife...

in the deep.

Mr. Gustaw's films are horrible.

Yours will be OK, too.

Dances with wolves.

I know that one. Beautiful film.

-Why's that?
-Because it was good.

Tolstoy said the greatest mistake we make
is to confuse beauty with goodness.

Who?

A count. The best writer ever.

OK. Where should I begin?

Start with Youth. It's a story.

The language of good
and the language of evil.

Bird talk.

And then War and Peace.

I saw the film, with Audrey Hepburn.

Bondarchuk's was better.

-He was a Russian.
-As well.

-How many women did you have?
-None, really.

What do you mean, really?

Like my father said:

"The truth isn't the same

as the for-real."

I'm lost.

What are they doing?

Making a late lunch.

My brother's a great cook.
And a great shot.

A regular Deadeye Dick.

I'll go help them.

-Hungry?
-Not after seeing Mr. Gustaw's films.

They're beautiful films.

What happens next?

You want to stay the night?

I have school tomorrow.

Want to bet it'll get jammed again?

What's jammed is jammed.

I read this sentence yesterday:

"The tragedy of defeat
and the peculiar glory inherent in it."

Was that about you, father?

About John Ford.

I know: The Searchers with John Wayne.

And My darling Clementine,
it's a shame your name's not Clementine.

You and your chattering.

I'm not fishing them out.

I can. I feel sorry for them.

IN LOVE

-Charger.
-Red charger.

I like the woods, hunting, fishing.

That's what I know.

What about painting?

I just pretend.
Like Marian pretends to write.

Mister Gustaw didn't pretend
when he was making his films.

He didn't. That's why they shut him out.

It'll be easier with this.

See that, father?

So small.

It's broken.
That's all it takes.

Toss the meat in the oil.

What?

For three minutes.

The salt and pepper are on the sideboard.

Remnants of the glory past.

-Are you mad at me?
-I couldn't be mad.

I forgot you were a child.

I only look like one.

May I?

It's all I have.

Not enough even for a bag of tools.

I should be getting home.

I'll give you a lift back.
If father lets me.

The night bus takes hours,
and you must be beat.

Didn't you cut your legs
in those reeds out there, miss?

Just a little.

I'll ask father if I can borrow the car.

Maserati engine,
hydropneumatic suspension.

Museum piece.

True.

If I sell it, the money will last
for the rest of my life.

You'll never sell it, father.

You're right, old people live backwards.

You'll never be backwards.

But?

In love.

Let the town hall hear.

Let all the city hear.

Glory to the great Poland!

HERO

We rang but daddy's not home.

Your dad, the general.

He's walking the dog.

-He has a dog?
-He used to.

There's some heavy shit coming up,
the Independence March.

To the Dmowski monument.

The greatest Jew-baiter ever.

As a history teacher who's seen
the light, you're coming with us.

-Maybe we'll get to burn something up.
-Like the Russian embassy.

Fire's cool.

'Fire' was the alias of one
of the doomed soldiers.

That's hot.

Your booty's hot.

You're like a virgin, prof.

Teacher's cherry.

Wear this, teach.

So they don't recognize you
in the police footage.

It'll be a blockbuster!

A cockbuster.

Balls of steel.

Mr. Józef, what's going on?

When can I get this... scopy?

Baśka! Baśka, come here!

Basia, get a wheelchair!

Take it.

You are football fans,
patriots, nationalists!

That right-wing scum should all be shot.

I got this.

Never salute bareheaded.

Did you know she survived the Ghetto?

A Polish woman named Irena Sendler
got her out of there.

No, I didn't.

Before the war, one in ten
people in Poland were Jewish.

"I smyeshno i strashno, kak tigra yebat."

What are you saying?

Since when did you start locking up?

Since now.

-You're doing worse.
-Or better.

-I need money.
-What for?

-Us.
-A lot?

More than I thought.

Did Marian write those lyrics?

He left the first page of a novel.

-The one in verse?
-You can't sing it, though.

Can you make it simpler?
I can understand if it's simple.

I thought I could play with
my toes if things got worse.

I found a way.

For what, baby?

Dough.

And a sucker who's
in charge of that dough.

-What's it say here?
-What's written here!

For the world in its chaos
took on the form of love:

ruthless and sharp...

Don't make a drama!
Don't pretend.

Damn, don't pretend!

No!

DIRECTOR

-Did you finish it?
-Yes.

-It's very difficult.
-Hits can't be difficult.

How strange is this world

How strange is this world

-You know how he ended up.
-Doing Norwid.

I don't know about that,
but it was awful.

Downfall.

-Did you fill them in?
-You didn't hear me?

I don't hear a thing when I'm composing.

Grouse go deaf during their mating call.

-You can shoot them then.
-What is a "mating call"?

It's a love song.

Bird talk.

I'll be going now.

Cleaning?

To the banker lady's.

You...

will die.

I?

Soon.

We could use another car.

For what?

Distraction.

-We must hurry.
-Faster!

Is Marian home?

He's gone to see his family
in the country.

I have something for him.

-He only goes there in need.
-Of the heart?

-When he falls on ill times.
-The history teacher.

I didn't recognize you.

Hannibal ante portas.

Just fooling around.

Historians tend to fool around.

More than usual IPN, Smoleńsk,
Kaczyński's speech in Georgia.

So do poets, I take it.

"Spilling blood is a foundational act."

Hard!

-Blood...
-Hard, hard, hard!

Blood

once spilled for freedom,

equality,

independence,

for God, honour and homeland,

is now poured from the empty

into the void.

That Georgian president was a
gangster, though.

And Kaczyński was rattling
a wooden sword.

And died.

Along with his wife.

Which only goes to show
you shouldn't get married.

I don't understand.

This...

is for Marian's cripple.

We want to rob a bank.

For Józef's condition.

What condition?

I'm a leper,

like that king.

Don't play.

Of the Holy Land.

I don't know what you're
talking about again.

Jibber-jabber?

Faster!

I'd be glad to join you.

But first would you care
to join us in the kitchen?

Gladly.

I know my way around a kitchen.

Would you mind slicing them?

-And sprinkle with lemon juice.
-I don't think we have any lemons.

Soy sauce will do.

We cook plain and simple.

And you want to rob
a bank plain and simple.

-Olive oil?
-Only lard.

-This will be an experiment.
-Faster, faster.

-The noodles should be ready.
-There was this Italian film,

-China is Near.
-La Cina e vicina.

-Do you know Italian?
-My father gave me a good home education.

-Because he was on the shelf for years.
-For what?

For shooting at factory workers.

Today the Military Council of
National Salvation was constituted...

Look right!
12 o'clock. Fire!

Clear.

Clear. He's not here.

Where is your son?

Ludwik, your son.

Today at midnight has imposed
martial law all over the country.

There are also other victims.
We honour their memory.

Grana padano.

-Grana padano.
-Grana padano.

-Did he write it yet?
-Tomorrow the lyrics will be ready.

Will you be waiting up for him?

We'll be playing records with music
better than anything I could ever write.

Then again, maybe I will play something.

-Sing!
-That was a nice tune.

A cruel girl

She stole from me

My will and time
My nights and days

Music-making, like back at the orphanage.

So why don't we talk about films?

-What kind do you like?
-Sunny ones.

-Meaning?
-Adventure movies. Upbeat. Happy.

-Historical?
-No, history is gloomy.

-At least ours is.
-At least ours is.

I love fantasy.

What are you talking about?

Sir Thaddeus.

"Only he can learn who has lost thee."

Lithuania!

Illusions...

"Here's looking at you, kid."

Casablanca.

I saw that in London.

OK, Bergman, but not Ingmar.

-Ingrid.
-And Bogart.

Give me a phone.

Cheese.

MOVIE

Bastards, on your knees!

Come here, quick!
Hands up, now! Come to me.

Move!

Come!

Show me to the strongbox.

"On windows the raindrops,
the raindrops are knocking."

-That's literature too?
-Shakespeare and Tuwim.

-You read a lot?
-Hardly.

Me neither. Don't have the time.

-Wasn't Tuwim a Jew?
-I don't know what that is.

Jew, Jew.

Shakespeare too.

Open it!

What's this?

This can't be opened.

Open it.

It's not possible.

This is my movie.

Open it yourself!

Give him the key.

Give him the key.

Don't pretend.

Fuck off.

Attention.

This is the key scene.

We're in trouble now.

I'll drive around in the Crimson Cruiser
to make sure they remember it.

That fat-ass slut will rat on you.
I haven't filmed it all.

All the more reason.

I could hole you up in the woods.

For how long, though?

For how long, though?

THE END

A cruel girl

A cruel girl

Cruel...

...nights and days

What should I do
Enlighten me

A cruel girl

-You stay?
-No risk, no gain.

And you?

I'll give my father his money back and...

I'm off to London.

Marian!

Marian, I have a good one.
Marian!

I'll give you the number
of a good plumber.

Good God, Józef!

Is he breathing?

Call an ambulance!

Hello?

Marian!

What is the address?

What happened?
What's going on?

This scene is awesome, right?

The actress who shot the first nude
scene in a film was underage.

Hedy Lamarr.

Ecstasy.

Phone.

I will go to Mr. Gustaw and I want
to ask him about making movies.

You want your films to be like his?

This one already is.

Citroen drives into the mist rising
from the warm ground.

Birds don't sing in the rain.

Or in Auschwitz.

What does that have to do with anything?

The language of light
and the language of darkness.

Love is at its strongest
when it's looking back.

Or forwards.

-You're such a smart-ass.
-Don't you know it, professor.

Behind us there's the sadism of
the for-real, and ahead there's?

Science-fiction.

-I want to be an ordinary person.
-You'll never be able to.

One last thing: what did you see
in Mister Józef's bed?

A dick.

I saw a film, The Empire of the Senses,
which ends with the woman riding a tram

with her lover's
cut-off penis in her purse.

-Shoe.
-What?

Your shoe.

As a knife in the deep.

So that the hand of God skimmed
over the waters and an angel flew past.

For the world in its chaos
to take on the form...

of love.

Ruthless and sharp...

as a knife in the deep.

BEGINNING

A cruel girl

A cruel girl

A cruel girl
She stole from me

My will and time
My nights and days

A cruel girl
She stole from me

My will and time
My nights and days

What should I do
Enlighten me

Night after night
Of her I dream

What should I do
Enlighten me

Night after night
Of her I dream

I do love her
And she loves me

I will forgive her everything

I do love her, and she loves me

I will forgive her everything.

Having said that, should I chase her?

Or should I find another cruel girl

Just like the one who stole from me

My nights and days

A cruel girl
She stole from me

My will and time
My nights and days

A cruel girl
She stole from me

My will and time
My nights and days

A cruel girl

A cruel girl

I want!