Post Mortem

The Szupermodern Stúdió presents

A Film by Peter Bergendy

Tomás...

Tomás...

That must’ve hurt.

Could be from the blast force.

SIX MONTH LATER

Pain? Suffering?

You only know if you’ve been to the other side.

Step right up!

Listen to the man

who came back from death!

Where did your loved ones go

after finishing their earthly life?

Are you plagued by curiosity and fear?

Find out the future of all mortals!

Just a few coins to hear

what the man who came back from death

saw in the afterlife!

We shed light upon the eternal mystery! Come find out

what happens after death!

Post...

mor-tem...

pho-to.

She’s so beautiful.

She feels no more pain. She’s found peace, tranquility.

Supposedly there are whole villages that got wiped out by the Spanish Flu.

In our village, only I got sick, and the girl.

You were lucky.

That I didn’t die?

You call that lucky?

I was levitating in bright light,

my body weightless,

and the air flowed through me,

even though I wasn’t breathing.

And then, the loveliest woman I have ever seen

was floating above me.

Lights trembled around us,

like the flames of a thousand candles.

Let’s arrange your hands nicely like this.

All pain and hunger were gone!

Everything was there for me.

I myself was the whole world.

It was quiet...

That’s perfect.

I was filled with calm and peace.

And were you there alone?

How could I have been alone in such terrible times,

when there are more dead than living?

When the earth is overrun with ghosts?

We’re done.

I’ll be right back.

What are you doing here?

You take pictures of the dead?

You saw for yourself, no?

We have dead too.

We who?

In our village.

Will you come?

If you pay me.

Can you take pictures of ghosts too?

You can’t photograph ghosts.

I’d better go. They’re waiting.

...life grabbed my hand

and yanked me out from the chasm of death!

Final photo of the deceased.

Well... A nice memento.

Such lovely pictures.

Jóska, wouldn’t it be nice if...

We can’t bring all those dead here.

Can I help you?

How many dead could they have?

That’s not why I’m going there.

Sure, you said... Because of the girl.

- But she’s just a child. - I never said she wasn’t.

You’re the one who said she was a beauty.

I’m only saying what you told me.

And then you added some more.

That’s what they pay me for.

If the story is plain, I don’t get such a big audience...

And will you be gone long?

A few days. I’ll catch up with the caravan later this week.

Such a fuss over a kid.

But it was her I saw.

You don’t understand anything.

The earth is frozen. If it hadn’t, we’d have buried them a long time ago.

What a disgrace, those poor dead, unburied for weeks.

Tibor’s poor widow, Jutka, talks nonsense too.

Her husband was in bad health anyway.

What a burden to care for the sick. So...

- what’d you say your name was, son? - Thomas.

Tamás?

Thomas.

Tomás, that’s a good name.

We’d say Tamás here,

but Tomás is good too.

Tomás...

Anna, the basket!

Auntie! Auntie!

No, no, never!

C’mon!

Get out of here!

The animals are nervous. C’mon then!

There’ll be a room at Marcsa’s.

He needs a room. Can he stay?

Just for a few days.

In there?

I’ll warm up the quilt later.

- Are you hungry? - Are you hungry, son?

- I am. - He is.

I heard him too. Off you go. I’ll feed him.

Have a seat.

Danke schön.

You’re not Hungarian.

No.

German?

Yes.

A photographer, I heard.

Yes.

You’re not a big talker.

Anna! Where are you going?

Can I come with you?

Only if you’re not scared of the dead.

It’s real nice here in summer.

I can imagine.

Your mother let you out so late?

I don’t have a mother, only Auntie.

And your father?

In the war.

The war’s long over.

I know.

- You haven’t heard from him? - No.

How old are you?

Twenty.

Ten.

C’mon!

Uncle Simon,

Aunt Anna, Gyöngyike, Uncle Árpi,

Uncle Zoltán,

Péter Tulipán,

Anna Tulipán, Marika Tulipán,

Ede Schwartz,

Zoltán Schwartz,

Mrs. János Beck, Mr. János Beck.

Little Feri and I used to smoke here.

- Did I scare you? - Yes.

- Who’s Little Feri? - A village boy.

He went off to the war too.

He and I smoked.

- Where did you get the cigarettes? - He stole them from his grandpa.

Have you ever been on a tram?

Yes. Even the kind that runs underground.

There’s no such thing.

Believe me, there is.

Let’s go. Auntie’s waiting.

Marcsa?

Is somebody here?

- Good morning. - Good morning.

There was noise in the night.

Are you scared of the dark?

If there’s something to be scared of.

I closed up the house when my poor sister died.

Well,

this is it.

- Shall we remove the boards? - No.

A dark room like this is perfect for me.

It’ll be fine.

Well...

They had all this nice furniture.

- You can sleep here too if you want. - Thanks, but Marcsa...

She’s the schoolteacher. Did she tell you?

Except there are no kids anymore.

But there will be, you’ll see.

And Anna?

Anna... Well, she has no parents.

Auntie takes care of her, but it’s Anna who really cares

for Auntie since her stroke. Anna’s a good child.

It’ll be nice and warm soon.

I’ll be off.

- I’ll let you work. - Thanks.

Imre allowed it.

Yes, I know.

Thanks.

Barely frozen.

Was she his sister?

No, we already brought her in, last night.

I didn’t even notice.

I also wanted to say...

Is this allowed?

Look this way, please.

You worked magic on my husband.

I never thought I would see him like this again.

- Thank you so much. - You’re welcome.

I’ll let you know when the photos are ready.

I’ll frame it.

Put it in a lovely frame.

Lower your hands.

- Like this? - That’s fine.

I already saw at the market. I know what you do.

She looks really nice. You can hardly tell she’s dead.