Who is it?
The Santa Klaus
Merry Christmas!
"Oh, sorry..." I didn't recognize you
"And you must be Krysia, right?"
"Well, Krysia, this is for you" A small gift
"And you're Antos, aren't you?"
"There's something for you, too"
And for grandma
Thank you
This is for Basia
Here's something for Mummy
"Yes, let me see now"
Thank you
Do you really think we'll go?
We'll try
Thank you
She's in her room
Is she feeling bad?
"Merry Christmas, Aunt"
Ewa?
My dear Ewa...
Have you done your homework?
"Yes, Aunt"
"The maths, too?"
"Yes, Aunt"
I was always very good at maths...
I thought you'd come with...
what's-his-name... er...
Edward
Yes
Merry Christmas... once more
"The kids will never forget this Christmas," the Santa Klaus and the midnight mass
"Oh yes, It's been as before"
Yes
Yes?
I don't know
It seems someone's trying to steal our car
I'll be back soon
Where's my home?
Where's my home...
Where...
IT seems you forgot to wish me merry Christmas once again
What do you want?
It's the Christmas Eve
"Tell me, what do you want?"
Edward's missing
What?
He's gone
Ewa...
Went out in the morning and never come back
We've got to find him
It's the Christmas Eve
I'm sorry
Ewa...
"All right, I'll go with you"
What have you told your wife?
That someone was trying to steal the car
Let me have the keys
Join me behind the corner
It's been stolen
Somebody's seen it in Wislostrada street
You call the police
...and I'll try to catch a taxi
Is it worth your while?
"The car earns our living, doesn't it?"
We attended the midnight mass
"No, I didn't"
I saw you there
"Ah, all right, let's forget it"
I've checked everywhere
"...with friends, with the police..."
Where to?
Where would you go if your wife disappeared?
"I don't know, to the hospital?" ...the emergency department
The emergency service's in Banacha street tonight
"Do you have emergency service tonight, Doctor?"
"Not today, yesterday"
I've made a mistake
What about today?
Which hospital has?
Whom are you trying to find?
A husband
"No, mine"
"That you, Jurek?"
Do you happen to have a patient...
His name?
By the name of Garus?
Thirty-eight
"Yes, Garus, thirty-eight"
"No, there's a female here..." looking for her husband
When was he brought to you?
When did he leave home?
At noon
It doesn't seem to be him "He left home at noon, yeah"
"They have a casualty," no legs no papers
But that was before eleven The Prague hospital
Shall I put the light off?
"No, thanks, I'm on duty"
It's his car
And his scarf
I'll leave it here He might be cold when he's back
He can hardly be back if he has no legs any more
"You'd better leave a sandwich for him, too" He might be hungry when he's back
"Go on, it's very funny"
"Gladly,"
"Why don't we go to bed together," in a hotel?
And then you could call him to tell him the number of our room
I... I didn't call him
You wanted to be through with me and to go home
And to be left in peace
I didn't call him
He told me
"You didn't say who was calling," I admit
"Ewa,"
"I didn't call him, believe me" I'm not.
Nothing to choose between all of you
"O.K., forget it"
"Take me to the Prague hospital, please"
The fellow with his legs cut off
"Ewa... There, there, Ewa..."
"No, let me have a look"
It isn't him
I'd like it to be him...
or you...
Many a time I imagined...
"both of you run over by a truck," the face squashed by the tires
I once saw you in my dream
Your neck was broken
I could see your tongue protruding
I just looked at you - and laughed
I wonder who's had a spite against this one here
Who's going to be glad
It's the police
So what?
You're driving a stolen car Did you call them?
Hold on
"Hey, Andrzej" This is that stolen car
They're following us
Got any papers?
Yes
Then you'd better slow down
Drive slowly
Get out of the car
Put your hands on the roof
"All right, this your car, Mister?"
This car's been reported stolen
We've only just found it Abandoned in Wislostrada street
Had a drink?
I haven't had the time
"Like driving fast, eh?"
You're lucky it's the Christmas Eve tonight
He was right I was driving too fast
You could have wrecked the car and killed me and yourself
Shall we have another try?
Do you want it?
Fasten the belts
Got enough?
We were to go home
All right
Your car isn't here
Are you getting out?
He couldn't have left the car before noon
Why?
It was snowing in the afternoon
But the car had no snow on it
"You know, I mean that snow cap"
It started snowing at five pm
"Well, I don't know"
I say...
What if he's at home? We shouldn't go in together
Wait here
"If he isn't there," I'll come out to the balcony
"If I don't come out in five minutes," drive home.
Ewa...
In case he's there
Good-bye
Emergency service
There's been an accident A man has fainted
He's lying at the bus stop
"May I have the address, please?"
It's at the corner of Pulawsah and "Walbrzyska streets, the city way"
Perhaps he's drunk?
"No, he's sober" We have his papers
His name?
Edward Garus Born in 1949...
"Your name, please?"
Anna Tatarkiewiez
He isn't there
"Like I told you, he isn't"
Why don't you take off your coat?
"I'd rather not, I'm freezing"
Want some tea?
Yeah
I didn't phone Edward that night "three years ago, it's nonsense to say I did"
That was important to me
You were important
"If you really want to know," I loved you
And I wanted...
to change everything
"When we were getting dressed,"
and he was standing there with his back to us...
You didn't even look at me once
I took you by the hand But you tore yourself away
"Then he said," now that we're both dressed
"You can choose, you can stay or go" And added he was going
And you followed him without a word
"Yes, it was like that?"
Yeah
Edward made still another condition
"I could follow him,"
if I would never meet you again
Yes...
And you said I have no intention to see him
"And then I answered, all right"
That's how it happened?
Give me your hand
The poor boy whom nobody loved or understood
You're right
It was all my fault
"But you seem to have landed well," don't you?
"You're the same as before, aren't you?"
You went as it hammer and tongs to straighten things
"You're a good husband and father," you provided well for your family
And you never forget to collect the laundry
Let me go
I'll be glad to your hands stink of petrol
Did you ever think what happened after we left that hotel?
How I was feeling? What I felt when we watched some love story on TV
...and he looked at me all the time instead of the screen?
I never made love to him since that night
What are you doing?
Nothing special...
washing my hands
It's the Christmas Eve
I'm sorry
I lied to you
"I do sleep with him, quite normally"
The same to you All the best
To us
It's him
At the wrong moment again
"Baby Jesus, sleep"
Sleep now
Mother is soothing
your cries...
How about the second verse?
This is all we know
Special night rates
"Thank you, merry Christmas"
Has he grown a beard? "I mean, Edward?"
"No, not at all..."
We're breaking the wafer as if here forgetting what we're really doing
Let's go
Where to?
The emergency service or the rail way station
"Yes, the railway station"
"Just a second longer, O.K.?"
Is this the emergency service?
Could you tell me if a Mr. Garus has been brought to you?
Edward Garus
Born 1949...
"Ah, I see, and do you receive" notifications from all over Warsaw?
A notification? Where was it?
And?
Thank you very much
"I phoned the emergency service," there's been a notification
A notification?
"Yes, somebody reported him lying, when the" "ambulance arrived, he wasn't there anymore"
"He wasn't there, that's all"
They say it's usually like that with drunks
They told me to check at the sobering-up station
Where's my home?
Where is it?
"Let me see, Garus..."
A Jew?
No
"We had a Garus once, back in 1979"
He was a Jew
Do you have cards with particulars of all your patients?
"Yes, perhaps he's one of those" who's been brought in today
Better have a look at them
"Ah, they've gone to sleep"
Just look at them dancing
What about this one?
Or that one?
Stop it!
"Stop it, will you!"
Can't you see they're cold?
"You deserve to be pun in there, you bum?"
Stop!
Just try "Come on, try it!"
"Let's dance, come on!"
It doesn't make any sense to go on looking
I'm going home
Where shall I take you?
I wrecked you car
And ruined your Christmas Eve
"Not at all, it was very nice"
Come with me...
"to the railway station, please"
Are you on duty at the TV sets?
Yes
I keep falling asleep That's why I'm skating
We're looking for... Has there been an accident perhaps?
No
Do you remember a man wearing a short sheep skin coat?
A jacket actually?
He comes here quite often Never goes anywhere
Who's this man?
Edward
And the woman?
His wife
And these are his children
He's living in Crakow For nearly three years now
For three years?
Nearly...
I lied a lot tonight
But why?
I don't know
Do you know a game? You say to yourself
If the person who appears from behind "the corner is a man, I'll be lucky"
"If it's woman," it means bad luck
I know it
I played that game tonight
I said to myself
If I manage to spend the whole night "with you, till seven in the morning"
no matter how...
What then?
Then everything is going to be all right
What if you failed?
I've made preparations
I live alone
It's so very hard to be alone...
on a night like this
People just...
"Yeah, they lock themselves in," curtain the windows
Exactly
"Going to the midnight mass tonight,"
I saw a boy
He slipped away from the hospital
Still wearing his pajamas...
What happened to him?
They got him
I know...
it wasn't you who phoned that night
Be seeing you
"They're all asleep, aren't they?"
The car's been found
I know
I phoned during the night
Was it Ewa?
Yes
Are you going to spend the evening away from home like before?
No
"No, I'm not"
I'll be here