Ranczo

It’s very nice of you to give me a lift.

Does the embassy drive every tourist to the bus station?

If he wants to ask the tourist out to dinner, then yes.

I promise I will when I get back.

No need, I’ll manage. It’s where my family comes from.

Just your great-grandma.

All the same.

- Where the hell do I turn? - Haven’t you been here before?

It’d be cheaper to knock it down and build something decent.

- But Halina wants it for Klaudia. - For your daughter?

So bulldoze it and build one just like it.

Can’t, it’s historic.

The roof needs replacing, windows, plaster, plumbing, and floors, too.

Wieclawski, don’t give me that bull.

The walls and foundation are sound.

The roof needs patching, and it’ll be fine.

It’s incredibly cheap. Great!

An American girl will manage everywhere, especially

when she’s got Polish blood in her veins, understand?

This American girl has no idea what she’s getting into.

People there are different.

It’s no place for a young American girl all alone.

So where’s a good place? Maybe you know.

Maybe you’ll tell me. The embassy knows everything.

I’m sorry, Lucy. I didn’t mean it that way…

And you didn’t want to go to India?

I understand, but I still don’t think

going there alone is a good idea.

You think I’ll run into something worse there than in New York?

- What’s that? - For you, so you return safely.

- Is it legal? - Sure it is; it fires blanks.

Thank you.

I have to go alone now. Thanks for all the help.

Take care. Bye.

Good luck, Lucy.

- Praise the Lord. - World without end.

I see the mayor’s practicing brotherly love in his old style.

A brother gets the love he deserves.

If you can’t respect a brother, then at least a clergyman, right?

Some clergyman!

Don’t insult my profession, or I’ll deal with you differently.

Oh yeah? Just try it.

I’d just love to give you a licking, Holy Joe.

The heiress arrives today.

So what?

The mayor’s got his eye on it, huh?

Maybe not? It’s a ruin.

It’s not that bad; the foundation and the walls are fine.

It depends how much she’s going to want for these foundations.

An American isn’t going to rip off a Polish farmer.

Who knows?

If she wants too much, tell her to come to see me at the presbytery.

I’ll explain that it’s our history, a cultural landmark;

it’d be a sin to profit from it.

- God bless. - God bless.

- Over my dead body! - Why not? He might help.

You’re like a child. Do you know what he’s up to?

He wants her to donate the money she gets to remodel the church,

and he’ll even pay her more.

Business with family’s always the worst.

But for the priest to call his own brother “mayor” is weird.

Because he wants me to call him “Reverend” in front of others.

Over my dead body, understand?

- Her bus gets here at 1:00 pm. - It’s almost 12:00.

Go get Kusy, and get to work.

- Remember what to do? - Sure.

Come on.

- The sly bastard’s fixed it again. - And he’ll have another accident.

Come on, get a move on.

Come on!

- Turn on the water, Kusy. - Shame to ruin the floor.

The mayor wants to replace it. Go turn it on!

Then haul in at least three wheelbarrows of rubble.

Go on, we still have to take the hose to the kitchen.

- Ms. Wilska? - Yes.

My name’s Mroczek. I’m here to help you.

- Lucy. - A pleasure.

How lovely it is here.

Here? It’s the sticks. Both town limits are on one post.

- Is it far? - No, about a five minute walk.

Didn’t I tell you it was a ruin? It was pointless to come this far.

- It’s beautiful. - From a distance, I guess.

When you go in, you’ll see.

Whose dog is this?

No one’s. Someone tossed him out of a car and he’s been

- here for half a year. - Threw him out of a car?

- Sure, people do it all the time. - They’re swine, not people.

- Indian. - What Indian?

That’s what they call him.

- That’s a dumb name for a dog. - It’s all the same to him.

Let’s go in and have a look while it’s still standing.

Come on.

See, it’s all mold. There’s nothing to save here.

The roof’s been leaking so many years there’s fungus everywhere.

When your great-grandma was widowed she lived here alone for 20 years.

She didn’t have time to care for it.

Then it stood empty for all those years.

It took the lawyer from Lublin three years to find me.

He had a wrong address.

It’s a miracle he even did.

There’s an orchard out back, but the trees have run wild.

Only the lot’s worth anything, and land’s cheap around here.

No buyers; everyone moves to the city.

But you said there was a buyer.

Well, yes and no.

I’ve urged the mayor to buy the lot and build a house for his daughter.

You won’t any other takers around here.

This is a poor region, people don’t have money; it’s not America.

So, shall I go get the mayor?

Is there a store around here?

Yeah, just past the church; Wieclawski’s wife runs it.

I’ll be back in half an hour.

- Is it okay with the dog? - Hello.

Sure, he doesn’t like drunks, so I see he’s smart.

- You must be that American. - Yeah. Come on.

- Not bad-looking. - Skinny.

Skinny, but not bad-looking. Here the skinny ones are ugly.

Because here skinny means she’s sick…

…or nervous. Nerves can make you skinny.

- And ugly, too. - So why’s she skinny but pretty?

- She’s a foreigner. - Oh yeah.

Don’t let the mayor cheat you. He wants to renovate that manor

for his daughter. He’s afraid she’ll run off to the city,

and he wants that house like a dog wants a bone.

And he’s got more money than Midas He runs the sawmill, the processing

plant and the mushroom farm.

- He’s got everyone in his pocket. - Mroczek says he’s not sure.

Ask Mroczek how much the mayor paid him to say that.

So what’ll it be, sweetie?

It has to be in a bun, or it’s not a hot dog, understand?

Lucy! Where the hell is she?

She’s here, mayor.

- Pawel Koziol, our mayor. - Hello.

Excuse me.

Nice park I’ve got here.

So, you want to buy the house?

I don’t really know, it’s in ruins…

Is that a dive bomber?

The Sulejuk boy gets it up in the air, then forgets about it, and

it flies until the batteries in the control die, or it runs out of gas,

then he picks up the pieces and repairs the plane again.

It’s never landed normally.

- Maybe it hit the presbytery. - Seemed closer…

- I might buy it if it was cheap. - How much would you want for it?

I don’t know prices around here.

- How much will you give? - In dollars?

Well..

Two thousand.

Two and a half?

Seems awfully little to me.

My dear…do have any idea how much renovating it is going to cost?

It has to be taken apart.

Everything’s rotted, moldy; it’ll cost a fortune to fix up.

This isn’t America. People here don’t have stacks of money.

I think I’ll find another buyer.

I told you that you won’t find anyone else in the next year.

The mayor will make it three, and we’ve got a deal, okay?

I’ll take a loss. Three thousand.

I’ll think about it. Can you come tomorrow?

- Are you sleeping here? Where? - I have a house, don’t I?

In this ruin? Thirty five hundred, and that’s my final offer.

I’ll think about it. Come round tomorrow morning.

Nobody will give you more, and if I don’t pay you,

you’ll be stuck with this dump and no one will make any money.

You’re a good negotiator, but I want to spend the night

at my grandmother’s house.

It’s better to sleep on it.

Excuse me, I’ll be back, and we’ll talk. Mayor!

That mayor’s a real con man.

And I’m calling you “hot dog” because you won’t eat the roll.

So what if she wants to spend the night? It is her family home.

- One night’s no big deal. - I was supposed to buy it today!

How’d I know what ideas she had?

She’ll freeze, choke on the dust, and be that much wiser tomorrow.

Nothing’s wrong, mayor; there’s no reason to get so upset.

- Did you buy it? - Nothing’s wrong, you’ll see.

- I asked you if you bought it. - Not yet.

Wanted a free lunch again, huh skinflint?

You don’t care if your daughter runs off to Warsaw or Lublin.

Just so you don’t spend too much of your beloved money.

Things are on the right track, ma’am.

She wants to spend the night, and I’m sure she’ll say yes tomorrow.

Excuse me, but I think something’s burning.

Good. If he can’t take care of a simple thing for his daughter,

then burned is too good for him.

We won’t manage with our bare hands.

I can get a shovel and a wheelbarrow.

- Is he yours? - He sleeps with me, so we’re pals.

- And who are you? - Nobody, actually.

When your great-grandma was alive, I used to look in on her.

I’d fix things, do shopping, you know, help the old lady.

I did everything here.

They call me Kusy.

Hi, I’m Lucy.

Would you help me clean up? I’ll pay you.

Sure, I’ll go get a shovel. It’ll be three wheelbarrows to haul out.

It’s a sin for rubble to be on a floor like this.

If she doesn’t want to deal now, then she’s got another buyer.

If she didn’t, she’d deal now and not put it off till tomorrow.

- What buyer? I’d know about him. - What do you know?!