The Door Page #5

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What could that mean?

Does he think he's the member of

some other party perhaps?

You have to be careful

what you say to him.

About what?

Anything,

anyone he asks you about.

Sign it here, please!

It's come from Parliament.

- Thank you!

- You're welcome!

Am I to have a Kossuth Prize wife?

You're allowed to be happy

Very. very happy!

Do you know how long it is since Emerenc

last appeared on her porch, madam?

At least two weeks.

The porch is covered in snow.

Something must be done,

or the old woman might not make it.

I'm in a hurry Mr. Brodarics.

Let's wait until tomorrow.

I must talk to Emerenc face to face.

Why are you sitting here?

I've opened the brandy.

The men have decided

to break the door down.

The doctor will be waiting outside

and I'll get her up the stairs to your flat.

If you could just get her

to open the door a tiny bit!

Just make her turn the key

and we'll do the rest.

I don't really like having strangers in the flat,

but the old woman needs to be taken care of

and kept in a warm flat.

Bring her round to us.

Good Lord!

You've grown fond of her.

If she doesn't get medical attention, that'll be it.

The only way I can save her

is if I betray her.

Emerenc

I vow I'm not going to neglect you just

because you won't open the door.

Nobody will come in,

but you must come out.

You don't even have to go to hospital

if you don't want to.

You can stay with us

in my mother's room with Viola.

The doctor's ready to see you.

If you don't go away I'll report you all

for disturbing my peace!

I've got a right to be on sick leave.

Then just step outside your door for a moment

so people will see that you are alive.

You know how fond

they all are of you.

I'm alive.

Bring me a box.

My old cat has died.

You have to bury him.

You can say you're taking away the laundry.

All right.

The smell has become awful.

If I didn't know it was impossible

I'd think it was a dead body.

During the war I often smelled

this ghastly stench.

Could you all move aside?

I've got to stay by the door

until I've received a package from Emerenc.

Thank you!

It's me, Emerenc.

Don't come in,

just give me the box!

- Now?

- No, wait please.

Alright.

The box was too small.

Don't you know how big a cat is?

Could you do something for me?

Could you run across and lock the door

to Emerenc's flat for me before anyone goes in.

Don't look inside,

and as soon as she gets here

give the key back to her.

See you at the Parliament.

Hurry!

Excuse me.

Can we do a television interview?

Oh, yes, of course.

- You taught me in primary school.

- Did I?

Yes. You haven't changed at all.

Well, I started teaching

when I was very young.

I could mention the names

of all sorts of people,

first of all my family,

my parents...

my husband and all those

whose story I have written.

But right now the first name that comes

to my mind is the name of a woman

who helped with around me

so that I could work in peace.

Behind every visible result stands an invisible

person without whom there'd be no life-work.

And in my case this person is...

Eremenc Szereds.

- Congratulations!

- Thank you very much!

- Congratulations!

- Thank you!

- You didn't come.

- I couldn't.

What's the Kossuth Prize like?

Nice!

This is ward 25.

But she hasn't arrived yet.

How can that be?

Than where is she?

I had to send her to be disinfected first,

because she couldn't have been put to bed

in the condition we found her.

By the time I got to Emerenc

the doctor had managed to catch her arm.

But she couldn't really resist anymore

Later on the doctor told me that she must have

had a mild stroke sometime earlier...

she could have been paralyzed for days.

Emerenc!

I should have suspected

something like that ages ago.

But nowadays I don't take notice of anything

apart from myself.

You received a Kossuth Prize,

Magda dear.

I could have done without that scene.

Which scene?

Emerenc in her own filth,

surrounded by rotting meats and putrid soups.

E- me-renc sur-round-ed by

rot-ting meats and put-rid soups.

Are you writing a poem?

Suppertime!

Behind every visible result stands an invisible

person without whom there'd be no life-work.

And in my case this person is...

Eremenc Szereds.

- Congratulations!

- Thank you!

Congratulations!

Emerenc was pure and upright,

as we all would want to be.

A queen.

And I allowed them to expose her

in a single humiliating moment of her life.

Whatever Emerenc says now,

that overwhelming stench and filth will discredit.

We wrecked a long life's work.

Maybe Emerenc no longer

wishes to persevere,

because we have destroyed

the legend of her name.

If I'd stay with her when they opened the door

a lot of things wouldn't have happened,

or at least not like this.

What do you plan to do?

Nothing.

If she survives

I'll take her to stay with us.

- I'm not going to fail her again.

- Don't dramatize things!

I'll keep watch over Emerenc.

I had a car accident

and my daughter was killed.

I wanted to commit suicide.

Emerenc came to see me

in hospital for months.

She brought me back to life.

I told you...

Let's stop this!

If you hate me so much

because I didn't let you die, I accept that...

but don't keep covering your head,

just tell me openly

I meant well..

It didn't work out that way, but...

I wanted the best for you.

Emerenc...

had this happened the other way round,

would you have let me die?

Of course.

And you'd have no regrets?

No.

But I couldn't have saved you

from anything.

Everything would have come to light.

The cats, the filth...

So what?

What does a dead person

know or see?

You are the one who thinks there's

something up there waiting for you,

angels gonna carry up your typewriter,

everything's gonna carry on as normal.

Such an idiot!

For the dead nothing matters any more,

the dead is zero.

What's the marble crypt for then,

Emerenc?

What's the point of gathering your mother,

father and the twins?

If it's so, the weeds in the ditch

would be good enough then.

Maybe for you, but not for me,

and not for my dead.

One should honour the dead.

What do you know about honour?

You throw me a bone in Parliament,

you think I'm gonna follow you around like Viola?

You know how to make statements,

but to be there when you're needed,

to hide my misery from the eyes of the world,

for that you didn't have time.

Go away,

make more statements.

You had the nerve

to thank me for your prize?

Are you looking after

the animals properly?

Did you clear away the rubbish?

Did you fix up some kind of door?

Now I'll tell her

that she's only got half a flat,

the door has disappeared,

the animals are lost.

No one has put afoot

in your home but me.

As the doctor picked you up in her arms,

my husband fixed the door.

I went that night

and saw to everything.

The scouring proved difficult,

but I managed it.

I divided the rubbish up

among the bins in the street.

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