Rondo

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

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