TELEWIZJA POLSKA presents
a film in the DECALOGUE series
in a film
DECALOGUE, ONE
Screenplay
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I couldn't do any more.
Dad!
Think something up!
Kermit's fleeing Miss Piggy.
On a sled at 62 kilometres per hour.
Miss Piggy's chasing him on skis...
At 87 kilometres per hour. Got it?
How much later did she start?
Right, 3 minutes.
Dad!
I did it!
She'll catch up in 10 minutes and 26 seconds.
Hi!
Get in.
Is it cold?
If somebody died abroad...
...would his obituary appear here?
Maybe.
You pay for it. If you pay, they'll print it.
Why do people die?
Various reasons. Heart attacks, cancer...
Accidents, of old age...
What I meant was... What is death?
Death?
The heart stops pumping blood.
No blood reaches the brain.
Everything stops.
Comes to a halt... The end.
But what's left?
What a man has done.
The memory of that, of him.
Memories seem to be important.
You remember that somebody
hopped strangely...
...or that he was good.
You remember his face,
his smile,
that he had a front tooth missing...
Too early, Pawel.
What do you want from me so early?
Turned sour?
Yes.
It says here: "a mass for her soul."
You didn't say anything about a soul.
It's a way of saying goodbye.
There's no soul.
Auntie says there is.
Some people find it easier to live if they think so.
Do you?
Me?
To tell the truth, I don't know.
What are you thinking about? What's the matter?
Nothing. Except...
I was very happy this morning.
When I got that sum right.
When a pigeon ate the crumbs.
And then I saw a dead dog on my way to the shop.
I knelt down and thought:
What's the use of working out when Piggy will catch up with Kermit?
What's the use of anything?
Which dog was it?
The one with yellow eyes.
He hung around the trash cans.
He was so pitiful, you know?
Perhaps he's better off now.
We are talking to the school principal.
You've introduced the milk program?
We have an arrangement with a dairy.
A glass of milk for each student.
But the milk's disgusting. They pour it down the toilet.
No. During the breaks the toilets at our school are closed.
What have you got there?
A guinea-pig.
What for?
Biology. But I'm not allowed to take it out. The teacher's afraid of it.
See what sharp teeth it has.
Pawel!
Just once more!
Pawel!
What's for dinner?
Soup and a main dish, OK?
I'm hungry.
A TV crew came to our school today.
– Why? – They asked about milk. They made us run.
– Did you? – Sure.
– Do you want to take the backpack home? – Yes.
I'd show you something nice.
See?
Stand next to the door.
Which one?
The front door.
All right.
Here it goes. It'll shut the door.
DOOR
– Did it? – It did.
Now it'll open it.
It did.
Go to the bathroom.
Don't touch anything.
Look at the tap.
WATER
I've created this program.
Mum wrote out her schedule, hour by hour.
I put it in its memory with the time lapse.
It's 27 minutes to four.
MOM HOUR
I'M SLEEPING
She's asleep.
Ask it what she's dreaming about.
WHAT ARE YOU DREAMING ABOUT?
It doesn't know.
Do you know?
No.
I don't think so.
It's very simple. You.
Me?
Of course it's you.
And Daddy?
I don't know.
Do you know what he's doing?
More or less.
God!
What?
I'm hungry.
Let's go then.
I wish Dad allowed me to use his computer.
It'd know Mum's dreams.
– Race you? – All right.
– Want a head start? – No, not today.
That was good.
Shall I wash up?
No, I'll do it.
I want to show you something.
Pawel!
Come here.
It was when you brought me the pencil case?
Yes. I got the prints today.
You recognise him?
I do.
Is he good?
Yes.
Clever?
Do you think he knows the purpose of life?
I think so.
Dad told me it's to make things easier...
...for the people who come after us.
And that we don't always succeed.
Not always. Dad's right.
Living means...
...the joy of being able to help others.
Of being.
If you do even a little thing for somebody,
you feel you are needed.
And then there's more light.
There are big and small things.
You liked the pierogis and I was happy.
Living...
is a gift.
A gift.
Tell me...
Dad's your brother, isn't he?
You know he is.
You mean, why are we different?
Your father and I.
We were brought up in a Catholic home.
He noticed much earlier than you...
that many things can be counted and measured.
He concluded that everything could be measured.
And he's gone on thinking that.
Perhaps he's not fully convinced...
...but he won't admit it.
His life may seem more rational...
...but that doesn't mean there's no God.
Even for your dad, you understand?
Not really.
God exists.
It's very easy if you believe.
Do you believe...
...that God exists?
Yes.
What is he?
What do you feel now?
I love you.
Exactly... And that's Him.
Now castle and check with the rook.
That's too easy.
She's won six games.
Even seven.
She'll defend with the queen...
...and she'll be finished.
Check.
I told you she's a routinist.
What next?
Move the bishop and... mate.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Hello?
Did you talk with your father?
– Dad, Auntie's calling. – And?
She wants to know if you agree.
Irena?
– I've enrolled him in religion classes. – If he wants to...
As long as he feels he needs it.
– I talked to the priest. – You did?
There's a new church being built nearby.
The priest's young. Pawel will like him.
What about tomorrow?
No. I'll take him tomorrow. Bye.
Pawel!
– You switched it on. – No, I didn't.
Hey, pal!
What do you want?
Switch yourself off.
– Suppose he really wanted something? – What?
I don't know. You asked him.
"Hey, pal! What do you want?"
It was a joke, that's all.
It's 9:30. Go to sleep.
Are you going out?
I'll be late. The light will be on.
What's the temperature?
Minus 14.
Will Mum call us before Christmas?
I think so.
Sphere I: instigator, instigate, instigation.
Sphere II: Stir up, play up, break up.
Sphere III: disrepute, disgrace, discredit, dishonour.
These are association fields.
Instigativism...
There's no such word.
But we understand it.
It's more difficult if we try to translate it.
It's rare for a foreign language...
to be a language of your own,
an intimate language.
We can know it well at the rational level,
discuss things in it, have an enormous vocabulary.
But how do you get to know...
what lies hidden behind the words, behind the syllables?
How do you discover the whole cultural background?
Formulate its ties with history, politics, culture and everyday life?
How do you get to know...
what makes up the soul of a language?
Its metasemantics?
Its metaphysics even?
Eliot said that poetry was what could not be translated.
But must he be right?
Imagine a translator
who has acquired complete knowledge of a word or a language.
One with an unlimited memory...
which can be tapped into at any moment.
He can be replaced by a mathematical device used in an unconventional way.
Seemingly capable only of telling one digit from another,
the device has both intelligence and consciousness.
It selects,
which is an act of choosing.
And perhaps even an act of will.
I believe that a suitably programed computer...
can have its own taste...
...aesthetic preferences...
...personality.
For our next meeting
I want you to choose a text...
...and play with it in the way I did with my invented word.
I hope I'm not asking too much.
Am I? That's good. Goodbye.
– What can you say about it? – It's all right.
– When's the test? – Next time.
Look, after an hour outside.
Will tea freeze, too?
Yes.
– Careful, it's glass. – It's nice, no?
Put it in the tub.
Let's leave it here and see what happens.
It'll melt when it thaws...
or in the daytime, in the sun.
Shall we count it?
Yesterday you said tomorrow.
Here?
No, here. You can't count on that one.
Frost holds only at night, for about 10 hours.
We must be precise.
Call the Meteorology Institute...
and ask them about ground temperatures in the last three days.
Today, yesterday and the day before.
Meteorology Institute?
Could you give me today's ground temperature?
And was what the temperature yesterday and the day before?
Yes, in Warsaw. Thank you.
What's the pressure formula?
P=F/s.
Temperature?
Today -11, -14.2 yesterday and -12.5 the day before yesterday.
There's been frost for eight days.
GROUND TEMPERATURE AIR TEMPERATURE
11 DAYS OF TEMPERATURE 0 DEPTH OF THE LAKE
And?
You see?
MAXIMUM LOAD: 257 KG PER SQUARE CM
So a guy three times heavier than you can skate there.
Really?
– Could you give it me? – What?
My Christmas present.
From you and Mum.
I saw skates, didn't I?
– Where? – Under the couch.
Can I?
– Do they fit? – They're terrific.
Get undressed and to bed.
I'm going for a walk.
You're to be asleep when I get back.
Are you asleep?
No, I'm watching them shine.
I examined the ice.
That's why I'm awake. I thought you would.
It's all right.
But you must stay at least 15 metres away...
...from where the brook enters.
It doesn't freeze.
Good, 15 metres.
It's shallow but I don't want you to get soaked.
Where's your elephant?
He's asleep.
Is Pawel in?
No. Why?
I don't know, Mum's asking.
Good evening, I'm Ewa Jezierska.
Is Pawel in? Marek hasn't come home yet.
I didn't recognize you. No, he's not in.
They should be at their English class.
What time is it?
It's past four. They should be home by now.
They'll be right back.
Something's happened.
What?
I don't know what. I'll go find them...
Jacek!
Jacek, my baby!
Wait!
Is Pawel here?
What is it?
I have flu, I let them off.
As soon as they came.
Where are they?
I don't know.
Calm down. Come in.
She's ill. They're not there.
The ice broke on the pond.
Impossible.
It did, it did.
Take it easy. It couldn't have.
Please, go there.
I'll be all right.
Have you seen Pawel?
Yes, at school. He told me his dream.
Now, I mean.
No. He said he'd call me.
1, 2, 3, 4...
5, 6, 7, 8...
Pawel? Pawel?
Pawel!
Irena?
– Did Pawel call you? – When?
Now. Today.
After school. He couldn't come to dinner because he had an English lesson.
He didn't.
So where is he?
I don't know.
Is something wrong?
No, I spilled the ink.
The ink bottle broke all of a sudden.
I meant Pawel...
I don't know.
People say the ice on the pond broke.
He said...
that you had calculated it was strong enough.
They say it broke.
I'll look for him.
I'll be right there.
Pawel. Pawel. Over!
Pawel. It's your father. Over!
Pawel. Pawel.
Mum...
Jacek! Where have you been?
We've been playing in the old car.
Let's go home!
Pawel was to call me in the afternoon.
Do you remember me?
– This boy might tell you something. – What boy?
The little one, Jacek.
Please, wait!
Pawel was skating on the pond.
– He was skating on the pond! – Let's go home!
Cast
Director
Director of Photography
Production
Music