Volta Page #4

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Venta Quemada

December 6, 1808

You ask why the three of us

were selected for the mission.

It's because we were

the luckiest of them all.

Until we had to face up to

a bunch of Spanish guerrilleros.

All right, Fernando?

Damn!

Catholic?

You're not French?

I'm Polish.

These suckers are lucky.

They're Polish.

Holy cats!

We are the lucky ones!

Look at this.

A treasure!

Poles...

What brought you all the way here?

You want to fight with us?

Why? We've done you no harm.

You have your own country.

I don't.

As your poet said:

Vivat Polonus,

unus defensor Mariae!

Long live the Pole,

the only defender of Mary.

Exactly.

Spared in exchange for the booty.

Like in "Forefathers".

You know the plot?

More than one. In this country

everybody's plotting.

Just don't pipe up like this

at a rally.

Mickiewicz depicts a similar situation.

Spaniards spare our men

seeing a holy medal.

- How did Napoleon get our crown?

- Does it matter now?

This crown will be

the cornerstone of your campaign.

Okay, but I'm hungry.

Excuse me.

Could I see your bill of fare?

My underwear?

The menu, please.

No problem.

- Use regular language.

- "Menu" is French.

I believe in our mother tongue,

our vocabulary.

Like allmouth.

- What?

- It's fish. Monkfish.

What the heck...

Looking for something?

Bruno sent me.

Should you need anything.

From you?

Like what?

I'm Jack of all trades.

Crown theft included.

Stay away from that jailbird.

- She'd sell you for a song.

- You judge by yourself?

I know the likes of her.

- You mustn't come in here.

- I'm in the doorway.

Go away.

Remember, Cas.

Success is 55% your body language

and looks,

38% - the way you talk

and your voice timbre,

and only 7% - your speech content.

So it's not that bad.

Then facial expression of the face

matters, right?

"Facial" is the same

as "of the face".

Oh, yeah?

Does "facial expression of the ass"

sound okay?

- It doesn't?

- No.

And remember, when you're about

to say something important or moving,

look straight into the camera.

Can I say:
"The future no longer

looks the way it used to"?

Don't say that.

Hi! Got your money transfer, thanks.

Good to see you, guys!

Let me show you around my kingdom.

No need to introduce...

Our TV has brought good luck

to two presidents.

I'm in the right place then.

Please follow me.

Excuse me.

I need your advice. Investors complain

that the return on capital is too slow.

That my TV isn't growing enough.

I must convince them they're wrong.

Things like that take time.

Tell them about

the Sydney Opera House.

Apparently a failure - economically and

logistically. Completed 13 years late.

But today, when the name comes up,

everybody goes:
what a success!

- Your TV won't be any different.

- You think so? Good.

We'll air a docu on the Sydney

Opera House. Thanks.

Go ahead.

Can't you dress up for work?

White shirt, jacket and tie?

It's not just yourself you represent.

Who else?

This station. Your employer.

I thought I was just

a supplement to the camera.

F*** you!

Sporting our logo on your balls?!

My balls?

When you yell like this,

they're up here.

Keep it!

For being ballsy.

How come that six months ago

nobody had heard of you

and you end up with a 58%

chance of becoming president?

I'm unpredictable and steadfast.

Just like my electorate.

Like all Polish people.

You have a program?

I'm not a washing machine.

I believe in a vision.

- I'd like to go back to the roots.

- The Solidarity movement?

Further back. The days following

the introduction of...

- Martial law?

- Christianity.

Oh...

- That's way back...

- The Piast dynasty.

I think the abolition of monarchy

was a mistake.

King Mieszko I...

Prince Mieszko I. The first Polish

king was Boleslaw Chrobry.

- The future will show.

- Brush up on your history.

It's elementary school.

Anyways, I don't see why

we can't be a monarchy.

- Like Great Britain.

- He's going off-script.

The British crown is hereditary.

The Piasts have descendants, too.

You'll track them down?

Why would we need a king?

Kings personify the most sublime.

God, honor, fatherland.

We should revive and continue

the Piast crusades to the East.

To the West.

The Jagiellonians went east.

West, east...

Please, stop interrupting me.

It's not fair.

A king is God-anointed.

It gives him different prerogatives.

Namely?

The highest moral competence.

In the restored monarchy

the king deserves more power.

I deserve a drink.

More than the government, the

parliament? Absolute power?

As our history shows, a weak monarchy

brought about the state's decline.

The new constitution

will allow the president to restate...

reinstate the monarchy.

Bruno says the public loves

idiots, so he has a chance.

So, as president you'll issue

that decree and as king

you'll seek absolute power.

Maybe yes, maybe no.

"Maybe" So typical of that

National-Socialist Party of yours.

- Socialist-National!

- It's the same.

It sure isn't! We only want to give

Polish people their due.

Like what?

You want houses to change hands?

We don't question Jewish property,

- we only defend Polish claims.

- F***!

What's wrong?

Kill me, or I'll kill him.

Only a very cruel heart

could take you seriously.

Your unfounded generalizations of

a derogatory nature defy my intellect.

Well, wasn't that something?

We hosted a presidential candidate,

perhaps our future king,

Casimir Lower of the National-Socialist

Party "Dignity & Pride".

- Socialist-National, I insist.

- National-Socialist, read your banner.

- How did I do?

- Ambiguously.

Great. I looked into the camera.

Did he really give

the boy his Rolex?

See that bearded man in green?

It's Jan Laski. Active in

Polish-Lithuanian negotiations,

but wasn't there when

the Union Act was signed.

- Then why did Matejko paint him?

- Laski died nine years before.

But the artist recognized his merits

and painted him for posterity.

Is it fair to distort history?

For a good cause... Why not?

Really?

I think I've found the missing link

to the puzzle.

But we must go 234 years back,

to the times of Henry of Valois.

That French king of Poland

who fled to France.

- Having emptied the treasury.

- We were sacked at every opportunity.

Cracow, King's chambers

June 18, 1574

They'd lock him up for the night

to prevent his flight.

- Got the keys?

- Yeah.

Sire, this damn fortress is locked

and bolted.

The Polacks fear that

Your Majesty will escape.

Sire, hurry up! They forgot

about the kitchen doors.

This mess will get them into

trouble someday. Let's go!

Just a moment.

I'm not going to leave this behind.

The money France paid...

Not France. My mother!

She paid a fortune for my election.

What I was to spend here,

I'll spend much better in Paris!

To the kitchen, this way!

You really need this, Sire?

Your bags are heavy.

We don't have it in France yet.

You've no idea how useful it is.

A Polish invention.

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