Original subtitles

CESKOSLOVENSK� FILMEXPORT presents

a film based on B. Hrabal's short story

LARKS ON A STRlNG

ln February 1 948,

the working class took power.

They became the leading force

in society.

What remained of the defeated classes

were sent into industry

to atone for their bourgeois origins.

REJOlCE! WE ARE WORKlNG FOR OuRSELVES

TO SuRPASS AND OVERTAKE

This is where it all starts - on the scrap heap.

All this will be melted down into high-grade steel.

We'll make tractors out of it to plough our fields.

And washing machines to wash our work overalls.

These are our voluntary workers.

Mostly of bourgeois origin.

We'll also melt them down into a new kind of people.

Professor of Philosophy, a former librarian.

He refused to shred decadent Western literature.

How are you, Professor?

Fine. The spiritual aspect is improving.

Now for the others.

This is a public prosecutor.

He held that the defendant had a right to a defence.

He's lucky the comrades didn't prosecute him.

This is. . .

Hello!

This is Tiny, former joiner who patented..

- Patented. . . - Patented ''The Advanced Washtub''.

As a debauched bourgeois, he employed four workers.

Slasher, former barber.

Made redundant because out of five barbers, three had to go.

What about hygiene?

Tiny, don't eat bread with hairs on it!

Want to get malaria or leprosy?

This is a saxophonist.

We abolished saxophones as bourgeois instruments.

We're really proud of Dairyman here.

He closed his dairy and works voluntarily for socialism.

Pavel Hvezdar, a cook, thrown out of a hotel.

He didn't want to work on Saturdays for religious reasons.

He refuses to do the same here.

l'm giving you the trade unions' third reprimand!

This man will not die a natural death.

So these are our workers - former philosopher,

prosecutor, barber, cook and a saxophonist.

l'm the only one who's a worker by origin.

Doctor, come and join us!

They took my ladder away.

You'll talk about what happened

so that everyone knows how we feel about the imperialist ploys of capitalism.

''Americans, jump into the sea - Pusan will fall!''

You'll say, ''l doubt it!''

No way. l'm in the doghouse as it is.

l'll just say, ''Ami go home!''

Excellent. This is a dialectic approach.

As the people's tribune, you'll shout indignantly,

''We'll pour our peaceful steel down the imperialist warmongers' throats.

''Hands off Korea!''

''We'll pour our... peaceful steel...''

''Hands off Korea!''

lRON - THE BLOOD OF THE FlVE-YEAR PLAN

Hey, she's a prisoner!

lt's OK, l'm in charge of everything here.

Hold hands.

Look joyfully into each other's eyes.

Now the narration: ''We're doing this for the future

''for our new young people in love,

''who'll raise families,

''have lovely children,

''who will not know war or suffering, but everlasting peace.''

So, heads up a little bit!

Take this paper and pretend to read it.

Let's roll!

Smile, please!

- Honour to work! - Why not, if it's well paid?

Perfect, perfect!

Why haven't you loaded scrap for the furnaces?

Americans, jump into the sea...

Ami go home!

Why haven't you loaded any scrap?

- We're on strike! - What?

Let's get out of here!

The increased targets have to be discussed!

The imperialists are everywhere. We can't wait.

We have to pour our peaceful steel down their throats.

We all read the Party's daily editorial.

Who said the targets should be raised?

The Ministry of Heavy lndustry.

- Whose suggestion was it? - Ours, the trade unions'.

You should have asked us first! Are we just figures for your statistics?

No, but it was decided by the shop workers.

Are you going back to work?

Only if the old targets are maintained.

l'll report it to the management and unions.

Why do you want to rob us?

You, an old Party member?

l'm fed up with you!

l'm one of you. l'm a worker too.

Then you should understand that.

You should have filmed that, you window dressers!

Hands off the strike!

Hands off!

l haven't had such a good laugh for ages.

Cut it out, girls!

WORK lS A MATTER OF HONOuR

Defectors.

Penal Code, July 1 950, part SB, article 95 - deserting the Republic.

He who leaves without permission, will get one to five years.

The court may rid him of citizenship.

Suspended sentence out of the question.

Well?

Stop fooling around.

Did you wash your hands?

Don't go overboard!

Now we play a song in honour for the best smelter.

Nothing but record smeltings!

1 4 smeltings in 24 hours!

One worker told me it was criminal -

half the steel is unusable and will have to be scrapped again.

lt's true: ''well begun is half done''.

But ''haste makes waste'' is more appropriate.

What will we get for going on strike?

They could charge us for breach of the peace.

The sentences are severe.

But we have a right to earn a decent livelihood!

You do, but we haven't.

lf l were the Comrade Prosecutor,

l'd charge us with anti-state conspiracy.

l'd charge myself as intellectual instigator,

the exacerbating circumstances being a former prosecutor

who should have known better...

But we're all equal here!

The defeated classes just like the Communists!

We're all working to make everyone's life better!

Even offenders enter the kingdom.

So you're getting married?

Go and get married then.

There exists the ''double-slap'' theory.

lf a worker slaps me, they may lock me up,

because l provoked him.

lf l slap a worker, it's grievous bodily harm.

Even though it may be slight.

But that's not allowed here in Kladno!

So don't get married then!

Not here!

l suppose l have to.

l see. So get married then.

But l'm so...

So don't get married then!

We have a visitor from the union!

He's so busy, but he still found time to come!

Go and get married then.

l'm sorry you don't want us

to get closer to socialism.

What would the author of ''Red Fire over Kladno'' think?

Yeah, l wonder what he'd think of you?

You impose targets, but you haven't discussed with us.

The former union president was not against us.

He used to play the harmonica with my dad.

He taught the workers to put up a fight.

What do you mean, harmonica?

Yeah, accordion.

He used to go to the pub with my dad.

He wasn't a fake comrade.

But you can't say things like that!

You just play into the hands of the aggressors!

l'd leave it to Krosnar and Zapotock�.

They taught us that it was for those at the top

to listen to those at the bottom.

But this is playing into the hands of reactionaries!

Raise the targets the way it should be done!

Tell the planners to negotiate with us.

lf you don't know the Party line, l do.

Let's go and have a beer, boys! No use talking to him!

So don't get married then.

- These people are really tough! - Who is that man?

This is our Dairyman. He voluntarily closed his shop.

He's the best worker, a loyal Party member.

unfortunately, a hard-boiled Kladno man.

What strange people.

Just go and get married.

Here's my wedding present.

Thank you. Go on working.

lt was such a lovely wedding. l want to get married too.

The bride was almost as lovely as you.

l mean, she was lovely, just like she were part of the family.

Angel looked smart too.

When a gypsy started dancing with his bride,

all hell broke loose!

- lt should be like that. - Pay attention!

He trampled on his violin.

lf it was my wedding

and some thug danced with my bride,

l'd set the house on fire.

l'd like to have a wedding like that.

What would you like?

Lenka needs some writing paper.

- What else? - Elza wants some chocolate.

But what do you want from me?

l have to go.

WE'RE NOT AFRAlD TO SuRPASS THE NEW TARGETS

- How are you? - Thanks, l'm fine.

Getting better all the time since l lost my job,

my flat and was nearly locked up.

Would you believe, l even lost my rheumatism?

Why not send them a letter of thanks?

Somehow it simplified my mental outlook.

l used to go by taxi, now l use a tram.

l used to drink Dubonnet, now l drink beer.

l used to go to my club, now it's just the communal baths.

Mankind has hardly changed in thousands of years.

Go away.

What would you like, just from me?

Never to burn the house down.

What else?

Nothing, l'm just glad you're here.

l still like Dreiser, Picasso and Chaplin.

But l have to compare them with my landlady.

Every day, she drags her three kids to a creche.

She spends the whole day mixing concrete.

Then she collects her kids in the evening.

She's more to me than ''An American Tragedy'',

''Monsieur Verdoux'' or the ''Dove of Peace''.

On a quiet summer night,

with the twinkling stars,

a feeling of friendship and scorn for the world

and eternity descends on you.

With nature's calm serenity of mind,

the cognitive might of an immortal spirit speaks

in elusive language and indescribable notions.

That was lmmanuel Kant.

- l want one too! - What is good for health? Cleanliness!

Next to godliness!

So show me your little mugs! Come here!

Now me!

And you!

- ls the washtub ready? - Yes, it is.

lt's good now Christian Europe is consolidating.

Christian? lt's more Jewish than ever before!

Christian!

At one end - a Jew of genius: Christ.

At the other, another Jew of genius: Marx.

Two specialists altogether.

ln addition, they took over art and medicine...

...with Freud and with Einstein in physics.

A quadrille of Jewish geniuses makes the world turn.

What a discovery.

So Leibnitz, Kant, even Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas

are the product, or refuse, of the Jewish spirit?

No way.

l'm only saying what l'm terrified of.

So you're saying God speaks Hebrew

and the official language of Heaven is Hebrew?

No.

Neither Hebrew, nor Latin.

So how does our good Lord speak?

''You are the Gods'', says Christ.

Here he speaks Czech.

And where's your good Lord?

Here, you fool!

He who feels at home in all places is worthy of God.

He who never loses his identity, carries God with him.

He who made all creatures silent,

was God's firstborn son, as put by Meister Eckhart.

A Jew?

No.

So it is Christian after all...

The world will not just look on. lran's going at it hammer and nail.

You mean lraq, don't you?

Boys, aren't you going to the cinema tonight?

As l said, lran!

Christ, you must have heard, lraq! lraq, you heard!

l listened to Radio Free Europe. They said lran.

There's no difference between twit and twerp,

but a huge difference between lran and lraq.

A guy climbed in and got six months for it.

For as little as that, l'd do it myself!

Your lust would qualify as mitigating circumstances.

l'd get ten years for feigning lust

because all l'd want

would be to instigate them

into revolution!

lran!

You must have heard ''lraq''!

For his masterpiece, the Lord made the female body.

There's plenty to entice man's hands and eyes.

lran, l say!

Just raise your head and you'll see the sky.

Mr Kant took walks in K�nigsberg and wrote,

''Two things never fail to imbue me with respect.

''The starry sky above and morality within me.

''The sky above makes me feel like a beast.

''But the moral law

''adds to my worth ad infinitum,

''making me independent of the senses...''

This is man's glory!

His head full of ideals, his feet stuck in shit!

Victory is one big shithouse.

PATENTED MANuFACTuRER OF WASHTuBS

Don't wake the children!

You reek! Did you have a meeting?

Daddy has a surprise for you.

Lift your hands up, son.

Open your eyes.

- Who bought it for you? - Daddy.

Close your eyes now.

- Who bought it for you? - Daddy.

l've got new clothes.

l'll buy something for you, too.

l'll also buy you a navy dress.

l'll buy you everything.

Because l'm your daddy.

True, l'm making steel instead of patented tubs.

Every good Daddy likes buying things for his kiddies.

Terezka!

One, two, three!

Here's the chocolate, cigarettes and writing paper.

Thank you.

ls there really nothing you want?

Want to hear my poem?

''A Miner's Daughter Forgot Her Proletarian Origin

''and Succumbed to Eros''.

Victoria aeterna!

Blast!

Stop messing about!

We have to do Dairyman's stuff too!

l'm the one in charge here.

We've finished. Could we give them a hand?

Guardian Angel...

But Guard, did we ever drop you in it?

Go on. But only three of you.

We'll make a chain.

Why so sad?

Well, l was warming up my fish's water and fell asleep.

And they got boiled alive.

You sell fish?

He's got fish which need air.

Otherwise, they drown.

ls there really nothing you want?

Take off your gloves.

Didn't you know l had an aquarium?

Some get drowned, some get boiled.

Now l've got problems with my flying fish.

They're getting too friendly with the sparrows.

ln the evening, they get so mischievous,

they sit on the chandelier and l can't catch them.

Really?

He has to catch them with a butterfly net.

He's got something in his eye. May l help him get it out?

Yeah.

But l haven't got anything in my eye.

You've got lovely eyes.

He breeds fish, but also plays the bugle.

His band played in a pub and there was a fight.

He hid under a table and kept egging them on.

When they found him hiding, they dragged him out.

They kicked him in the butt and rubbed in pepper and salt.

Come on.

That's enough!

l hope you don't want any more children!

What do you know about it?

You're both too foolish for it.

- Why shouldn't l have more? - You could.

Think how they'd ridicule me at school.

Wash your feet before you go to bed.

l like you.

You didn't let them shred my Schopenhauer.

l'll read you my poem on Vrchlick�.

''Your poetic soul made a gigantic impression.

''Your poems immortalised many eras.

''You raised the consciousness of your brothers.

''Today, you've reached eternal glory,

''even though the false sheen

''of the present dazzles us.

''Every spring, flowers bloom anew.

''From chaos, the spirit emerges to create order...''

Nice.

That's another six months!

THE STEELWORKS lS CALLlNG YOu!

The good old days are draining away.

This era has crushed you. What do you intend to do?

You're feeding the furnace with your class attributes...

The world will not put up with that.

Eisenhower will pursue a policy of force.

America will go to war because of your lathes and saws!

Do you know what will become of you?

You'll be turned into ingots!

This era will smelt you down too.

l can't wait to see businessmen in Paris

sweeping the roads while the workers kick them in the butt.

Good morning.

- Here's the chocolate for the girls. - Thanks.

You really don't want anything?

What about cigarettes?

What about chocolate?

What about marrying me then?

What about all those whores in your youth?

You couldn't help feeling sorry for them.

They were underpaid salesgirls.

They had to make some extra money.

lt's the same with shop girls today.

lf you go to a nightclub, there are secretaries

earning extra for the rent.

lt makes you weep when you see the girls today.

You just drink cheap plonk with some bimbo who can barely talk.

She can't play the piano or isn't entertaining.

ln the old days...

This era will sweep you all away.

Our motto is ''Be prepared''!

We are singing a war song

We don't know any distress

The morning is coming The day will be lovely

Our motto is ''Be prepared''!

Well, children, these are our workers!

Show me your hands.

The situation has worsened due to imperialists

who are using our reactionaries for their evil aims.

Look at those repugnant, imperialism soaked faces.

The fascist beast never sleeps.

They stick their snouts into our blossoming garden.

They exploit these monsters for subversion.

We stopped them defecting to their benefactors.

Keep away from them.

Don't be like one man who got in

and impregnated an inmate.

Another decadent capitalist soul for the world!

We're too kind! lt seems that work discipline is vanishing.

No wonder.

What's more important is that real people are vanishing.

Not just abstract, but real people are disappearing.

- Comrade! - Let the children hear.

Dairyman disappeared

because he made a justified demand about the targets.

Forget discipline. Where is Dairyman?

You bear the consequences.

Who's that?

Come on, children.

You'll get two years for disrupting work discipline.

Perhaps three, if they add breach of the peace.

Perhaps five, for abetting the enemy.

OK, so be it.

- ls the washtub ready? - Yes.

There's nothing like family life!

l'll get married in due course.

l'll marry a beauty and have children straight away.

Food, drink and lovemaking are the noblest acts.

WORK lS...

Your hands are shaking.

l slept badly.

You're stuck here and you don't know

what's going on at home, eh?

l was just the same.

l can't complain.

One day, l couldn't take any more...

l left a chap half done and rushed home.

Of course, l caught her at it.

My hands shook like the devil.

l couldn't shave for six months.

Desertion is punishable by demotion

and suspension for five years.

That's the limit! l'm in charge of you.

l'm the deputy foreman.

lf they see us with the defectors, we're in for it.

You are so Czech.

The moment you become someone, you think you're perfect as shit.

Please...

l'd like to know...

Nothing.

- We'd like to know... - What?

How did Mr Zatopek do in the race?

lt was a beautiful race.

National disaster!

And we crossed our fingers for him.

lt was a beautiful race.

At the start, Schade and Piri took the lead...

Weddings should take place around the solstice.

Can't we wait?

Perhaps there'll be an amnesty in May?

On 2 1 st March, the Sun marries the Earth.

We'll have our wedding in its honour.

lmpossible. l'll still be inside.

lt is possible.

Why wouldn't it be?

l'll fix it.

Even the impossible is possible in our country.

After the eighth lap, it was nerve-racking.

Zatopek broke away, but Mimoun took the lead.

And the damage was done...

- So Zatopek lost? - We really wanted him to win!

Then that devil Zatopek sped in front

and broke a new record.

lt's a good job we crossed our fingers.

But we were unhappy because we knew

that there'd be extra quotas in honour of his victory.

HONOuR AND GLORY TO...

What's going on?

There's going to be a visit by...

Get going!

The State gives the family material and spiritual support

to contribute to the building of socialism.

Do you take this woman by proxy

of your own free will,

knowing no impediment, as your lawful wedded wife?

l do.

Mrs Th�mingova, you're here by proxy, do you take...

Do you take this man as your lawful wedded husband?

l do.

Then l declare you man and wife.

Please place the ring on the bridegroom's finger.

Congratulations.

BETTER AND MORE JO YFuLLY

Miss Hlavacova, l inform you that at 1 1 :30 today...

...you became Mrs Hvezdarova. Congratulations.

Have you got the ring?

Get out!

- l got married today, Mum. - That's nice.

- Where's your bride? - ln the nick.

That's nice.

l'll make something nice for dinner.

That's nice.

Blast it!

We're having soup and liver dumplings. You like that.

That's nice.

And then, mushroom sauce with meat and dumplings.

That's nice.

And then, look here. . .

- l am so tired today. . . - That's nice.

Jitka!

Obey your husband, be faithful. Long live the newly-weds!

Husband and wife should support each other.

To bear and bring up children.

Welcome!

You may find this handy.

- Where are you going? - But l am going...

- He's here. - We're going to welcome him!

ENJO Y WORK, ENJO Y LlFE

How beautiful.

Such beautiful flowers.

l wish Nemcova and Smetana were here to see all this.

Do you hear that?

l can hear what is missing.

Where's the music?

Man cannot live by music alone.

He needs bread.

And there will be bread.

There will be butter.

And Smetana, Fibich and Dvorak.

But where's the music?

Yes, the music, but where's Dairyman and the professor?

Where are the good old days,

when people respected and loved each other?

Yes. Who is this dear boy, wise before his time?

WORK lS A MATTER OF HONOuR

- ls the washtub ready? - Yes.

Starting a new life again, you idiots?

There you are.

Our government looks after your hygiene needs.

lnstead of playing cards, what do l do in my free time?

l'm taking care of the new man.

- Who's this new man? - Me.

lndeed.

What do you mean, new life?

You don't give a damn about old people.

Just look around you.

Who's going to wash our Granny?

That's work for the police.

Go and watch the front of the house.

The new people do not talk of Heaven and angels, but of man.

lt's enough for us to have angels on Earth, like you and us.

That's a great notion.

Where did you get it from?

Here.

Together, we'll preach the gospel of hygiene.

Our rule says that we must love our neighbour.

l had such a lovely wedding.

After the service, my husband disappeared.

He came back after two days, all soaked.

He'd been fishing.

What about your man?

He's as beautiful as if he were one of our family.

But l still haven't got him home.

Married for six months, three weeks out of the nick,

- and he's still not home. - Why?

He got two years.

But in 1 8 months, he'll be back home.

Attention!

One day we'll see where the truth lies.

- l married truth. - And where's your truth then?

Here, with me always.

Like Antaeus, I grew weak,

but recovered when I touched the ground.

My truth could rest on my knees,

it is like the bread on our table.

But it is not there any more. They've taken it.

Where's the truth?

Fate bids me to refine my philosophy.

l'm so happy!

l was reborn.

All that sorrow, all that wrath

was burnt in the fire which cleansed me.

l'm happy. l have found myself.