Passenger

PASSENGER:

Scenario

Cast:

Director of Photography

Director

Andrzej Munk was unable

to complete his film

He died in a car accident

on 20th September, 1961

We have no intention of adding

what he had no time to say himself

We are not searching for solutions

which might not have been his...

... nor seeking to conclude the plots

which his death left unresolved

We merely wish to present

what was filmed...

... with all the gaps

and reticence...

... in an attempt to grasp whatever

is alive and significant

Andrzej Munk was our contemporary

We shared his hopes and fears,

and while not anticipating the answers...

... we may perhaps manage to present

questions that he wished to pose

The story begins today...

... in a place where yesterday and

tomorrow scarcely exist, only the present

This luxury liner

is an island in time...

... and each of her passengers

is an island, too

Worries and ambitions fade away

during a voyage

A passenger isn't part of a society...

... a nation or a group -

free, without a biography

The world turns a smiling face

to passengers...

... friendly, ready to serve...

... not too curious about where they

come from, or why they are travelling

But we will not observe this idyll

with such cheerful indifference

We shall give our attention

to this passenger

She is a German...

... who hasn't seen her country,

or Europe at all, for years

Now she is returning with her husband...

... whom she married in a foreign,

hospitable continent

England... the first port of call

in Europe

What has Liza seen?

Her husband does not understand...

... why this encounter has upset her

Don't call me "poor little thing"

You know nothing about it

My time in the camp...

... was not what you think,

my dear Walter

I wasn't a prisoner,

I was an overseer

Don't look at me like that.

I didn't hurt anyone

And if Marta is alive...

... it's only because of me

I haven't told you much about

my past. You were an emigrant

You'll never understand how we had

to live and obey our leaders

Perhaps it's best for us both...

... if you hear it at last

I was sent to Auschwitz

in the summer of 1943

I took charge of a command working

in a storehouse outside the camp

I had nothing to do with the

prisoners, only their things

Everything belonged to the Reich...

... and I was responsible for seeing

that nothing was destroyed or stolen

There was a war on

and we all lived as soldiers

Some were drunk with power,

but I just did my duty

I always tried to help those women

whenever I could

I had to select an assistant

from a new transport

Work in my command

was easier than elsewhere...

... and the treatment was more humane

I saw something vulnerable

and childlike in Marta

I was sorry for her

She became my clerk

It was a pleasure...

... to watch her change back

to a normal girl, a girl from freedom

I hoped that one day

she would be really free...

... and I did all I could

to help her survive

Then I discovered that her fiance

Tadeusz, was in the camp...

... and as we needed help with

book-keeping, I brought them together

Thanks to me they met again

One day she fell ill

and was taken to hospital

Conditions were not good there,

we lacked medicines

We couldn't cope

Anyway, our soldiers at the front

were worse off

I decided to have Marta back

in the block

I could care for her better there...

... make sure the doctor visited her

I got sulphonamide and vitamins

from the SS dispensary

I saved her life

I didn't ask for thanks,

but at least I deserved her trust

She didn't want to show it

When she recovered she was

more withdrawn than ever

Whatever it was, it was something

I couldn't understand

Attention!

When I realised what it was all about,

it was too late

She went to him of her own accord

She must have expected this visit

I had no idea what her offence was,

but I knew...

... when Untersturmfhrer Grabner

came in person to claim his victim...

... nothing on earth could save her

Marta was taken to the death block.

I wanted to see her once more

Before leaving for the Reich, I said

I would like to see the death block

It was awful

Then I saw Marta

I, an SS Overseer,

was as powerless as she was

Until now I was sure Marta had

shared the fate of Tadeusz

Perhaps Walter will be touched

and repeat "poor little thing"

But the response of the husband

learning of his wife's past...

... that's not really important,

the director probably used him...

... so Liza could recount her first,

noble version of herself and Marta

The second version,

she will keep to herself

There is a gap in the film...

... to be filled with various events

taking place on the liner

Munk began to film these events...

... but never completed them

The motivations of the Auschwitz

revelations would have been detailed

We are left with fragments -

happy passengers...

... Liza, staring at Marta...

... trying to be sure it is really her

Under such tension Liza recalls

the truth well enough

I was sorry for her.

How naive I was

She didn't give a damn

for my kindness

I, a German, denied myself

everything...

... I had no private life, no love,

no rest from duty

She, a Pole, committed for a

political offence, had what I lacked

She didn't need me to be happy

It wasn't my doing and it wasn't by

accident that Tadeusz was there

Prisoners exploited our trust.

Those given tasks ran the camp...

... pulling wool over our eyes

Even some German foremen were

in with the gang

He's not here

- What do you mean?

- The Capo sent him to hospital

- Who's this?

- He can take his place

- Another one of your tricks?

- No, the other may have typhus

Decent Germans are at the front,

not hiding in a camp

You stinking coward

In 1936 I fought in Spain. I didn't get

this uniform for cowardice

- Do you know the job?

- Yes, I do

I let it go on

In the battle we fought...

... I knew that cunning was

more effective than brutality

They played at love, thinking no

one knew. They had no right to

But I knew, and if you know

what someone really cares for...

... and you can give it

or take it away...

... you are the master

I keep getting reports of theft

Confiscated items are Reich property.

Prisoners are stealing, trading...

Yesterday a woman prisoner was

caught lifting boots from the store

Today we found some buried gold

Ober, a simple soul, an idealist,

was bewildered by such things

Yet in the end she said

something sensible

"We must win the confidence of

chosen prisoners and establish order

"Only the best in the garrison

and the best of the prisoners...

"...can restore this camp's

proper character"

This idea was not new to me

Overseer Weniger wishes

to take command

Unfortunately, I had moments

of weakness, too...

... and Marta was able to take note

Even dogs have temptations

they can't resist

Major, Inga's pet, was extremely

fond of cheese

He wasn't to know he would

soon pay for that

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