RONDEAU
Starring:
RADIO PROGRAMME
A MOTORCYCLE
RADIO PROGRAMME
RADIO PROGRAMME
I was afraid you wouldn't come.
- We set a date. That means something.
Of course it does. So many stairs
and corridors, you can get lost.
I know this place. There was a
bar on the 1st floor, before the war.
My class was the last who had their
prom dance there. -You're that old?
Who'd say?
Neda, this is Mr. Bakran. Mladen
Bakran, my wife. -Nice to meet you.
Mr. Bakran is a judge.
County court judge? -Yes.
Neda, Mr. Bakran and I
agreed to make a little experiment.
Fedja, you're rude. -Why?
- Why didn't you tell me earlier?
On purpose. I thought he would
not come. I didn't want to jinx it.
Sorry, I'm a bit dishevelled,
I didn't know about this.
It's quite simple,
Madam. We want to prove
it's possible to spend a
Sunday afternoon intelligently.
Let's not waste time. Take your pick!
Admit it, Madam, you had a
different idea about our experiment.
How you carry on! Maybe our guest
wanted some rest or conversation.
No rest when it comes to chess!
I asked my friends so many times:
"Come by. My wife will
make us coffee, we'll grab a bite. "
Do you think
anybody ever came? Oh no!
True. I don't know what
is it with people nowadays,
but nobody has time.
And chess is like love -
it requires a partner.
Chess doesn't look like love to me.
Lovers look each other in the eye,
while chess players don't really see
each other. They look at something...
something away.
Of course! You think Mr. Bakran
came here for my pretty face?
We started to talk and set a date
without looking at each other.
Chess is what matters.
We kibitzed some pensioners' chess
game until they told us to go away.
You do that? -Why not?
You don't surprise me, you're
still immature. But you sir!
Those weren't ordinary
pensioners. I watched them,
and I saw my own
future there, very clearly.
You're a piece of work.
It's going to be chess all the
time when you're old? And children?
I'm not married, and I
don't have children. -You don't? -No.
Do you?
We will, as soon as I get my degree.
We agreed on that, right, dear?
You said something, love?
FEDJA HUMMING
RADIO PROGRAMME
Maybe I'm disturbing you.
No, no, you're not, not at all.
Excuse me. -Oh, sorry. -Thank you.
"There will be bloodshed... "
OK, you're winning, 2-0.
I'm such an idiot...
- Just take the move back.
It's my fault. I can't see straight,
been staring at the board for ages.
That really wouldn't
make any sense. No, please.
I have... Really,
this game... Unbelievable.
The game is what we
enjoy, not the victory.
Indeed.
I say we don't start a new
game, we could have dinner now.
Is it already so
late? Well then... -What?
I shouldn't be in the way. -Oh no,
you're not, please sit down. Neda?
Yes? -We won't let him get
away until I inspect the kitchen.
We must have him alive.
So I have to stay? -Sorry, but
you'll have to eat the meal I cooked.
Don't worry, there's not much.
Do you ever play for
your guests after dinner?
What you say! That would be, as you
say in court, a premeditated crime.
A manuscript, facsimile!
Fedja found that in Leipzig,
he worked there at the fair.
He has great sense for such things,
for all things. Gives me a hard time.
He comes with me when I shop
for clothes, goes with me to fittings,
meddles in everything. But he
does have an extraordinary sense.
To him, printed scores don't say
anything, while manuscripts sing!
What if I say I want music after
dinner? This particular rondeau?
Then you'll have to buy
the record, if you find it.
You couldn't in Mozart's time... I
mean, it wasn't a smash back then...
Fedja, behave. -But that's exactly
what our guest wanted to hear.
He's right, Madam. Breaking
one's promises is bad etiquette.
Score left open - that's a promise.
- It's not, it's a historical moment.
When I met her, she was playing that
very rondeau. It was a real concert.
Amazing! -He's exaggerating.
It was only a recital.
Right when she was on, lights
went out. When the concert was over,
Neda demanded to see the idiot
in charge of lighting. That was me.
Do you play an instrument? -All of
them, even though I never learned to.
I'm a natural.
But I know some good little girls
who buried their youth in that box,
and never touched it again...
- But Fedja! -After they got married.
I can't even whistle.
I'm one of the worst
sort of non-musical people:
ones who always want
to talk about music,
as if to make up for
what they lack. You'll see.
I'll keep asking you to
explain something, to teach me.
But why should I teach
you? Just listen carefully,
and you'll understand.
Music and you - that's enough.
Guess you're right. Two is enough
in all big things. Three is a crowd.
That's why I never go to the cinema
or theatre, and never read novels.
Plot is always the same: two people
either love or don't love each other,
and then the third
person gets in the way.
That's what I always
say! What's this:
it's beautiful, it's
gorgeous, it takes two,
and the third person feels
stupid and unneeded. What's that?
Chess!
But Fedja...
I hope we see you next Sunday. -Yes,
we should repeat the experiment.
Today's outcome might've been an
accident. -Oh no, you'll see. Whoops!
BELLS CHIMING
Great! So, 4 o'clock? -4 o'clock.
Right...
So, every night you go
back to your cold bachelor's flat.
I've never seen your place, but
I can imagine what it looks like.
If you were married, it wouldn't
be cold. There'd be a woman waiting.
Always the same woman? -Alas!
You'll see for yourself.
So long. -So long. 4 o'clock.
RADIO PROGRAMME
I was afraid you wouldn't come.
- We set a date. That means something.
Of course. Look at this weather.
You want to get away.
Anywhere, far away.
Even the birds are getting away.
I heard them last night,
couldn't get to sleep.
Those were quails. -So!
I thought that were storks.
All I know about them is they
migrate. Because they carry children.
No, storks migrate in daytime,
and quails only in nighttime.
These are starlings. They fly in
large flocks. Swallows too.
Cuckoos fly on their own.
Really? That means cuckoos
aren't chickens after all.
My wife, if you recognize her.
She cleaned all day, did her
hair, all in honor of your visit.
See, she even made me... -I see!
- He's rude. Fedja, you're so rude!
But Fedja!
Maybe our guest
wanted to rest a little.
Thank you, Madam,
not at all. Not at all.
Don't be cross with him,
he can't start a conversation.
That's why nobody ever visits.
I see why I didn't touch the pieces
for so long, and I kept asking:
"Come see us. We'll grab a bite,
my wife will make us coffee".
It's you! It's because of you
nobody ever came! -Me? -You!
You heard that? Tell me
please, who's antisocial here?
Sorry, but before you make me
a part of your romantic arguments,
you have to tell me about...
the rules of the game.
I'm cross with you again! You don't
see that love is not like chess.
There are no textbooks. You need
to look at faces. Everything's there:
love, happiness,
hate, sadness, secrets.
Yes...
I'm off, things to do.
You said something, love?
Take the move back. -No, Fedja.
- No point... -Don't make a habit of it.
Take the move back.
- There's no point... -Fedja!
Wait! The game is what we
enjoy, not the victory. Please.
Please. -Alright.
Shall we call it a day?
Yes. Please, don't
make me stay for dinner.
Come on. Have fun with these!
We must have him alive!
So, what's the score?
I lost all the games.
You know, Neda, if you start
to play now against my will,
that could qualify as premeditated
crime. Still, I'm asking you
to commit that crime. I really want
to hear Mozart's rondeau in A minor.
Then I'll allow Fedja to whistle.
Thank you very much! Where's my
coat? -Where are you going? Fedja!
Fedja, he's getting away! Wait!
Alright, I'll stay.
You shouldn't have. Really.
It must've been hard to find.
You took me seriously when
I said you should buy the record.
That means I must
take you very seriously.
It means I don't
like to buy flowers.
I'm puzzled now, but
not because of the present.
I'm used to getting presents,
I'm rather spoilt that way.
But I'm not used to people
remembering what I said.
It's hard to talk when words mean
something. You know what I mean?
With Fedja it's different: we talk,
and forget about it straight away.
But when you feel that
somebody is actually listening
and that your words
stay with them, then...
You know I love this instrument,
but the thing is it makes noise.
That's the thing
with the piano too!
I know only one instrument that makes
music without making any noise.
What's this: it has
openings, or ouvertures;
endgames, or fugues...
We know, we know: it's chess.
- Fedja... -How do you know?
I don't feel like going home tonight.
I get sick thinking of that room.
There's nothing alive there,
only a clock that plays tunes.
"Eine Spieluhr", my landlady says.
You never think of getting
married, not even on a Sunday?
There are 7 days in the week. Phone
starts ringing on Monday morning.
Our lady friends call to tell us
how their weekends were bad,
how the husbands are dull, jealous,
brash, always reading papers,
and so on, and so forth.
I couldn't do that,
live the way you do.
Good for you.
This is odd: I'm older,
and you have a beard.
A detail. But I'm a judge,
you're an artist. -A craftsman.
Still... I make a living off my
strictness, you off your creativity.
I have a salary, and you freelance,
living from one day to the other,
like a real adventurer. That's fine,
the world needs all kinds of people.
An adventurer...
You're married, very happily,
while I waste my time with
other men's wives. Isn't that odd?
You know what? I think it's out
of fashion. If Casanova lived now,
a man with a talent for adventure,
he'd be the most faithful husband.
What else should he do? No danger,
no risks, no windows to jump out of,
no duels... That's not a life for a
man of action. -Perhaps you're right.
Yes, it's repeated, I see it now.
That's the part that's repeated,
the theme, right? -Right, that's it.
That's rondeau: everything is
repeated, but it mustn't be dull.
I don't like that in principle.
Wouldn't it be better if composers
let their imagination run free?
That way we'd always get
something new and different.
You're a grown man, and you ask the
questions I did when I was little.
Here's what my teacher said:
"Old masters were very strict, dear. "
"They wouldn't let beauty go wild. "
"They trussed it tightly, and
it started to grow upwards. "
"The tighter they
trussed it, it grew higher".
You know what else is like music?
Always the same, yet never the same;
always beautiful, never reliable;
always dangerous, always new...
and it isn't chess!
My Lord, it's woman.
What's this: it's
beautiful, it's gorgeous,
always waits for us; doesn't
cost us money, so it's not a woman...
Hey! -What? -I do that! -No! -Let go!
This is mine, that's yours.
- Let me do it my way.
This is mine. Try
to come up here now!
These sparklers...
This is nice, but
imagine real fireworks.
He's not joking. He's got
a whole box of rockets.
Great. So you'll
blow us all up one day.
I wanted to make them since I
was a kid, to wake the whole city up.
But Fedja! -Stop! -You're so rude!
Where are you? I'm already
looking forward to next Sunday.
I don't think I'll come. I'm
afraid there's no point. -Why?
I didn't say I'll
never come again, but...
Why every Sunday?
Why make a habit of it?
But making habits is great!
It makes us happy to know
you'll come every Sunday at 4.
I have something to
think about the whole week:
the queen's gambit with white
pieces or some other move.
Neda worries about the
dinner and other things.
At 4 we're afraid you won't
come, at 4:10 we stop hoping...
At 4:10 we stop hoping...
Then you ring the bell
and everything's alright.
So?
I'll come. -So long.
"There will be bloodshed... "
- Check. -Whoa!
What's that? -What's
going on? -No idea.
I'm not the idiot in charge
of lighting the whole street.
It seems somebody wants us to
play without looking. -Really? -Yes.
OK. Just a moment...
G-5.
Mhm... G-3. -G-3.
King on F-5. -Rook on D-3.
But Fedja! The way you carry on!
You could let Mladen rest a little.
Who said I was tired? -I suppose
you did some work this week.
How many people
did you sentence to death?
None. I've been a judge in
divorce cases for a long time.
I thought so. I can't imagine
you sentencing someone to death.
I didn't always do divorce cases.
So you had somebody
killed? But you had to, right?
That's your job. Your
conscience is clean.
Not entirely.
Sometimes I think judges should
be killed together with convicts.
That's the only way to
die with a clean conscience.
Right! Times change.
Judges are not so strict anymore.
You said something, love?
Really, you said something?
I'm out.
BELLS CHIMING
DOORBELL BUZZING
I was afraid you wouldn't come.
He already had fever when you were
last here. His eyes were bleary.
You don't see that because
you don't look people in the eye.
You see, Mladen, you
need someone to tell you:
"You lost your appetite.
You should see a doctor. "
Or: "Your eyes are bleary,
let's take you temperature. "
One day that won't be necessary.
We will carry electronic devices
that will send data to a hospital.
There will be signal lamps, and
when one of them glows red,
a doctor will call you and
say: "'You're ill'. 'Me? No!'
'Yes you are! You've been feverish
and constipated for 3 days. '
'We'll collect you in 5 minutes.
Bring your pajamas and toothbrush. '"
I won't have to worry about anyone?
The device will take care of it all?
Right. No one will
need anybody. -Can't be.
A doctor told me it's happening.
- Can't be! They don't know anything.
There, there. Calm down,
Fedja, nobody told me that.
I made it all up. Come on, your move.
Mladen, promise me something.
Promise. -What is it?
- Promise you'll go straight home.
The weather is horrible.
And drink some hot tea.
That device hasn't been invented yet,
and we won't know if you're ill.
So long.
Neda! Where are you? Is that
the way to welcome a guest?
A moment ago she was going on
about how you're never coming.
Now we're going to...
The first rule... The last
digit may be uncertain...
The second rule... several
digits correct... so...
The first rule... The last
digit may be uncertain...
The first rule...
Only so many digits...
I'll be right back.
The second rule... several digits...
So? -You know you could've mated
me only two moves ago? -Really?
Look.
You should've put your
bishop here, and the king...
I see. That's it.
New game? -Yes, please.
This is your place, sorry. -Never
mind. Just turn the board.
Thanks.
What's the score?
- Mladen is winning 1-0.
That's nothing,
we'll win. Right, dear?
Are you sure? -I am.
"There'll be bloodshed... "
I almost...
I give up. -It can't be!
We shouldn't have switched
the bishops, but it's too late now.
2-0, is it? It's going to be 3-0.
No, it won't! Right, dear?
That was an accident.
"There'll be bloodshed... "
Mate? -You're good.
Did you see that, love?
This is how he did it:
he attacked to separate
the queen and the rook,
to block the rook in the corner,
and then to attack with the knight...
Rematch!
Check him! With the queen!
Why the queen, love?
Isn't that the strongest piece?
It can move in all directions.
Correct, but the queen
doesn't enter the game
until the light pieces are developed...
- But... -... and castling done.
But look, the queen can check!
Attack, attack, don't let him rest.
Check.
Check.
Check. -That's the way!
Careful, he'll take our queen.
Put it back. Put it back.
What now, eh? All
that effort, and no gain.
We checked him 3 times, that's
good. And we still have the queen.
By attacking the queen, he developed
his light pieces and gained pace.
While I wasted time on fancy
moves, he got to control the centre.
You see these 4 fields? Whoever
controls them, wins the game.
Take the move back?
No. -Why not? -Don't.
Let me take the move back.
What is it?
Real players don't take moves back.
Love, how about you take my place
and play yourself?
One moment.
We didn't treat
each other right today.
You don't love me anymore.
I just wanted you to win.
It doesn't matter who wins.
Besides, Mladen is a friend.
Says who? How do you know
what he thinks of me and you?
He makes out to be
someone special and profound.
That's posturing!
What's he really like?
He's alright, he is.
It's not a tragedy
to lose a game to him.
He's good, I sensed it straight away.
He's meant to do something great.
And you? Are you
meant for something great?
I don't know.
You are, I know it.
Everything he can do, you can do.
I believe in you,
and you humiliate me.
I love you just the way you are,
honey. You wanting me to change...
You're good, the best.
And you're my girl.
Fedja, when are we
going to have a baby?
We're going to.
Fedja...
We're here. This roof.
And this? -Everybody's
got to make a living somehow.
Whose move is it? -Mine.
Tell me, Mladen,
why did you want
to win so badly today?
I can't explain,
but I wanted it indeed.
I knew: whatever I
wish for will come true.
Good thing I didn't wish
for a flood or an earthquake.
Or fireworks, to
wake the whole city up!
You need to find someone who'll
make you wish for great things.
So long, Fedja.
RADIO PROGRAMME
RADIO PROGRAMME
RADIO PROGRAMME
If Mladen doesn't show up
today, you'll have to play with me.
If I don't play at least one
game, I won't sleep well.
You know I can't play chess.
You know how to move
the pieces, that's enough.
I'll sacrifice a piece to
make it easier for you.
Besides, you can take
every bad move back.
I know, but you can't
take moves back just...
...just like that.
FEDJA WHISTLING
RADIO PROGRAMME
DOORBELL BUZZING
Neda stopped hoping, but I knew you'd
be dying to see what I have here.
I have all sorts of surprises for
you. This is just the beginning.
But Fedja!
Check!
Erm... Neda is asleep? -No.
Gotcha! Now for another surprise.
Admit you didn't expect it.
No, Fedja, I didn't.
"There will be bloodshed... "
You sell these?
- Yes, it's carnival time.
Neda isn't home? -No. Your move.
I'm done.
Calm down, My Lord!
There are more surprises to come.
Fedja!
Let's call it a day.
But why? We have our
peace. Don't you just love it?
My mind is wandering. I don't know,
something's wrong with me today.
I know what's wrong with you.
It's the same thing as with Neda.
The southern wind.
And low pressure. Terribly low.
Isn't that odd? I know one can
be sensitive to weather changes,
and that one can be
highly strung, and so on.
But why did my beard
start to bother her so much?
See how silly I look.
What if it isn't just the weather?
Something's wrong
with Neda, really wrong.
She locked herself inside
herself and lost the key.
I wanted to ask you for advice.
You have more experience.
Some other time,
Fedja. Some other time.
I have to go now. I really
don't have the time today.
...now the ear...
I was afraid I wouldn't find you.
- It's Saturday, man! -That's why!
Off you go! Go! -Come on, hurry!
It's my birthday today!
- On carnival day?
It wasn't the carnival
day when I was born.
Different date each year...
If you don't mind, we
might celebrate at your place.
I... I don't have
anybody except you two.
We'll celebrate alright!
It will be a day to remember!
You're rude. Why didn't you tell me
earlier? I would've made something.
Everything's here. -We'll celebrate!
Watch the cake. Thank you.
- Happy birthday! -Thank you. -Neda!
Happy birthday, Mladen.
20, 21, 22... that's it!
That's what's left from
Neda's birthday. Never mind.
We're celebrating the birthday of
Mladen Bakran, who turns 22 today.
Yes, Fedja...
When he was 22, Mladen Bakran
despised this bourgeois nonsense.
At college, everybody feared him.
He'd cut guys' long hair,
legs of their trousers, hated jazz...
That was a man full of
ideals, completely unsceptical.
I don't know. To make everybody
fit the mould, your mould...
Hear that, Neda?
He'd cut my hair too.
I would.
I'd shave your head!
If you were older.
Happiness would ensue.
Happiness? Who has so much of it
that they can give some to others?
I didn't look for
happiness in myself.
To punish the guilty, protect
the innocent, be the hand of justice,
that was happiness for me.
That's why I became a judge.
Becoming a judge was
the only thing I ever wanted.
You became a judge, didn't you?
I did. The trouble is,
the laws keep changing.
That's just how things are.
- I know. But verdicts remain.
To you!
Enough of that. Everything
had to be the way it had been.
I know... We accept everything
nowadays. Everything just goes on.
Tell me, why nobody
does tragedy in art any more?
Do you know why? -No.
Nobody feels
neither guilty nor innocent.
Nobody's blamed, nobody's credited.
What's this: it was created a very
long time ago, its laws never change,
and we always know who takes
the blame, and who takes the credit.
Everybody's responsible
for their own destiny.
Yes, Fedja, it's chess.
Green! Blue! Yellow!
Green! Blue! Yellow!
Fedja, you can't. You need
a permit for those rockets.
That's the thing! Anybody
can do it on bank holidays.
But when you wake the whole
city up, and everybody wonders:
"Who's celebrating?"
and we know it's us.
Fedja, please, get serious for once.
Aren't we in a
festive mood or what!
It's my birthday
today, isn't it, folks?
Neda, commit one
little premeditated crime.
Play for me.
That's an idea! You're
going to play for us today.
You know I can't any more.
- Yes, you can. Just try.
But Fedja! -Just try.
- But I forgot it all!
Come on. You can
take every tone back.
Be a good little
girl with stage fright,
and I'll be the idiot
in charge of lighting.
I can't.
So, Mladen, do you
know now what a rondeau is?
It's a piece of music in which
the theme is constantly repeated,
and everything's always the same.
Wrong! Nothing is repeated.
DOORBELL BUZZING
One by one. -Quiet!
Come on!
Quiet!
Mladen...
You were right. Love
is like chess after all.
Every fool can make the first
move, the rest is not so easy.
It is easy for those who
have played more games.
All this time I hoped
you'd make a wrong move,
but you don't make wrong moves.
Tell me, is it a bad
thing that I love you?
I don't know.
What now?
Come on, let's go
somewhere, anywhere.
Let's go somewhere,
anywhere, come on.
Come on, let's go.
Fedja... Let's go back. Everything
is closed by now. -Tonight?
We can't get in uninvited.
- Yes we can! We'll invite ourselves!
Come back! -The whole city will know
we're celebrating! The whole city!
Mladen, tell him to
come back, he'll listen to you.
Why? We have to have him alive?
You're a swine, Mladen.
You don't do that to a friend.
You don't do it without love.
I believed I loved her.
I evaded love for years,
just as I evaded responsibility.
That's a bit odd for a judge, eh?
And then, it happened.
I really believed I loved her, Fedja,
when actually... I loved both of you.
I'm an old man, I don't have
a home, I don't like my job...
I needed you both.
Your life made me feel alive.
If you two are not together,
I don't know what I'm going to do.
You're a swine, Mladen.
A swine who plays chess.
Plays chess very well.
Come by on Sunday. My wife will
make us coffee, we'll grab a bite.
What's the point? -Don't be
afraid, nothing can happen now.
Life is good now.
It gets bad on Sundays.
Then, we remember.
The danger is in that, not in you.
Come, she'll hate you more than me.
Me, who forgave her everything.
Put it back. -No, it was here.
- No, here, I know it was here.
I'm telling you. That's where
you checked me. -Put it back.
Fine, if you please. It's all the
same, but I know it was here.
You're arguing again.
THE END