The Visit

Attention! Hello! Hello! Citizens of Guellen!

Hello! You have all now heard the great news.

We are asking all people of Guellen to prepare themselves for this great event.

It is our duty to ensure a royal welcome to Madame Zachanassian,

who will arrive in a few hours! Citizens of Guellen!

I therefore ask all citizens to assemble.

It is up to you to prove that our Guellen never forgets its own!

Good morning, Mr. Mayor! - Be careful. I want everything organized and arranged.

Come inside, your honor! Come along, Anya.

Good. Very good! Alright. Hurry up!

Yes, that's gonna look fine! - Anya! Here, take this.

Good. Now it works.

Oh, hope this is finished in time. - Yes. It certainly is.

Cover that up with something! - Oh yes, Sir.

Oh, have that fixed. I want every detail worked out. - I understand. No slip-ups.

Is she really that rich? - Rich? Madame Zachanassian?

Known in the world as Madame Petroleum. A title she inherited from her late husband.

Mr. Zachanassian, better known as Mr. Petroleum.

He owned 5% of the whole world. Then he died. Now she owns it.

And just think... She was born here the way I was.

Why is she coming back? - I wish we only knew.

Good. You are doing a fine job, Anya. - Thank you.

Members of the sporting club of Guellen, fellow athletes,

we may have been hit by misfortune, but we have not been defeated!

We have not lost our pride in ourselves!

Each man must wear a clean pressed shirt!

Now is the time for everyone of us to look his best.

And let's try to keep in step.

How are you? Hello. It's going to be a great reception!

I don't want to put patches on. it's difficult when it's almost worn through.

We mustn't underestimate the importance of appearance, especially his!

Ah, Serge! Or am I saying something I shouldn't?

Am I supposed to be jealous at my age? - I knew her better than anybody else,

but if you ask me... I'd say our best approach is not to try to fool her.

You know... Karla's... She's too sharp.

No, I'd say honestly and openly:

Our mine is shut down, our factories are closed, our entire population is on relief.

Let's face it: we are bankrupt.

And I'd say: now that you've become one of the riches women in the world...

Help us.

You are our only hope.

Well, you'd certainly convince me. - And me too.

Mrs. Miller, we were wondering, if you...

At the beginning, if you could... just sort of stay in the background?

Oh, I do understand. - You're very understanding, Mrs. Miller.

I try. - Serge, come on, we need you. - Here, take this!

Mrs. Miller... Could you wait on me now? - Yes, right away. - I'm in a big hurry.

Oh, thank you, Dobrik. - What was she really like, Mr. Miller? - Karla?

Well, Karla was my youth! You know, now as I think of her,

she seems to me the most beautiful girl that ever was.

She was graceful as a willow with flaming red hair that fell below her hips.

Then why didn't you marry her? What happened?

Well... Life tore us apart.

I wasn't here 20 years ago. What did he mean?

Exactly that: Life tore them apart. - What are you doing?

What is that? "Welcome Karla"? - A welcome for little Karla Wechsler,

the redhead that used to swim nude in the river.

Does that give you the right to call her by her first name? - No harm done. Anyway:

I painted "Welcome Zachanassian" on the other side.

If she shows herself very friendly, we can always turn the sign around.

Oh, Mayor? - Yes? - You wanna make a point about Karla's generosity in your speech?

She was generous to a fault. - Right. I'll emphasize that. Any other suggestions?

Say something about her sense of justice. It was deep... it was very deep.

Oh Miller, you're so respected, there's no question you'll be our next Mayor.

Oh no. - Yes, you will. - Absolutely. - No doubt, Miller.

Well, that would be the greatest moment of my life!

Hey, what's that? - It's alright. That's not her train.

It's the Diplomat Express. it doesn't stop here anymore. - Oh yeah, I forgot!

What's happened?

Welcome!

Believe me, dear Lady, when I say that you caught us unaware.

Forgive our appearance. We had planned a more fitting reception.

Little Karla... Little Karla.

As Mayor of Guellen I'd like to say a few words of welcome...

I demand... Who's in charge here? Who pulled that cord?

I'm in charge. Now look... - I repeat. Who pulled that cord?

Why... I pulled that cord.

You? - Me. - You have stopped the Diplomat Express.

You have disrupted international schedules. Now tell me why?

You could hardly expect me to jump off the moving train.

And since I wanted to stop here at Guellen... - Madame, once a week, every week,

one whole train comes to a complete and full stop at Guellen.

As a matter of fact, this very day in a few hours... - I couldn't wait.

Here... This is for you.

But, Madame... It's a thousand.

And this is for the railway's widows fund.

Good Heavens... Five thousand!

Madame, no such fund exists. - It does now.

The lady is Madame Zachanassian.

Madame Zachanassian... I had no idea...

Please don't disrupt your international schedule any longer. - Madame.

So good to have you back, little Karla. - Like one of the family.

But I must have been such a trouble to you...

Or don't you remember how you had to beat me every day?

No trouble at all. None. Really. A delight.

Serge!

Karla. - Serge...

You've changed. But not too much.

A dash of grey. But he's still handsome.

Don't tell me, I haven't changed. - Yes, you have.

You've become more beautiful.

It was good of you, to come back to us. - I've been planning it for years.

In fact, ever since I left.

It's almost... 20 years.

Have you thought about me, Serge?

Always, Karla. - We had our good moments together, didn't we?

Unforgettable.

Do you remember what you used to call me?

Call me that!

My little witch.

Go on...

My little wildcat.

And I used to call you: My panther. My wild panther.

Oh, look... Oh no.

It's still standing. - Your late father built well, gracious lady.

Remember Serge, how I used to sit on the roof, spitting?

Only on men, of course. - Of course. Of course, I remember.

And then, that day when you didn't meet me, I threw tiles. And the police...

Oh, where's the police? - Captain... Captain! Quick!

You've lasted well, Dobrik. - We keep physically fit, Madame.

And have you learned how to wink an eye at things by now?

Would I today be Captain of the Guellen constabulary, if I hadn't?

I'll remember that. I've thought of you often, Pastor.

In the town jail, when my mother lay dying, how you consoled her.

Only part of my humble task, Madame.

I can still see your white head murmuring to the condemned man in the next cell.

You will be pleased to know the death penalty has been abolished... - Yes,

and I personally am proud to think it was my newspaper, the Guellen Tribune,

which led the campaign against this medieval punishment.

I suppose it could always be restored, if necessary.

Isn't there some sort of provision in the constitution? - Yes, there is.

In case of an emergency we can always change the constitution.

Come, we're wasting a lovely day! - Dobrik! The car. Hurry up!

We've arranged a little tour. The old palace... - No, no, no.

First I want to go with Serge to the places we knew so well. Remember?

Hm? Oh, yes.

Oh, what a pretty girl. What are you doing in Guellen?

I... I work at the Golden Apostle.

I used to work at the Golden Apostle myself.

Then, one day, I lost my job.

Haven't I seen you gentlemen somewhere before? - It's possible.

We've been to many places. - Ah.

I know, I've seen them somewhere before.

Waiter? Four glasses.

I'm a conservative man, gentlemen. But I'd say, our troubles are over.

First thing we do is restore the church and get a new bell.

Look at those bags. Look at that staff. She's come for a nice long stay.

Yes, but I still want to know why.

She was born here. She spent her youth here.

Two good reasons not to come back.

Doctors... They cut up corpses and they think they know about people.

The human heart, my dear doctor... That's where you must look.

I have.

And I hate to tell you what I found.

Our heart, Serge.

It's grown... The tree has gotten older.

No, it's still young.

Young and strong.

And the hut hasn't changed, either. But it was already old,

the first time we came here. - The first time.

Gypsies! No, but that's not possible.

Oh, they're always around here.

But it's almost exactly like...

like the first time.

Or don't you remember? - Yes.

Yes, I remember. - I didn't have much of a chance, did I Serge?

I mean the day... like today... Oh, so warm and lovely.

So soft.

With a gentle wind...

We'd been swimming. And then your kisses, like butterflies,

playing around my cheeks... my lips...

And then, of course, when those gypsies decided to play...

Oh, you know, girls are so funny.

You know, what I thought when I was in your arms?

In a man's arms for the first time in my life?

I thought, I'd better pretend not to enjoy this so much,

or he'll never believe he's the first.

It was important for me that you knew you were the first.

We were both... both so young.

I don't know whether you believed me or not.

It was hard for me to pretend.

I was too much in love with you.

I think I screamed.

I remember how surprised I was that those damn gypsies were still playing.

And then you married Mathilda Kovach.

Her father owned the general store. - Lucky for you I did, Karla.

You would have been stuck in Guellen, living a miserable life with me.

Instead I went to Trieste, where I met Mr. Zachanassian.

In a whorehouse! Oh...

it was my hair he loved. Oh, Mr. Zachanassian was very strange

about women's hair.

So Mathilda hasn't made you happy? - Happy?

I've hardly been out of Guellen. Five days at the lake.

Our honeymoon. It rained four days.

Well... The world's the same everywhere.

At least you have seen it. - Seen it? I own it!

It was better you went away, Karla.

What am I? A small shopkeeper in a dying town.

Look at it. The mine closed down, like...

like everything else. - Maybe things will get better now?