Day 132: Not a Single Log Cut
At the café in the foyer of an arthouse cinema in Brzeg, Tamara (A), who has come for the preview screening of Winter Under Śnieżnik, a new three-and-a-half-hour Polish drama, orders a coffee from the barista, Ada (B).
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a Polish word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Polish, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Poproszę duże latte. Przede mną trzy i pół godziny „Zimy pod Śnieżnikiem”, a potem jeszcze spotkanie z twórcami.
A large latte, please. I've got three and a half hours of Winter Under Śnieżnik ahead of me, and then a Q&A with the filmmakers.
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B
To polecam raczej podwójne espresso. Byłam na pokazie dla pracowników i pół widowni nie wytrwało do napisów końcowych.
Then I'd recommend a double espresso instead. I went to the staff screening, and half the audience didn't last until the end credits.
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A
Naprawdę? Krytycy po festiwalu piszą, że nie ma tam ani jednej zbędnej minuty.
Really? After the festival, the critics are writing that there isn't a single wasted minute in it.
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B
Krytycy mają miękkie fotele i kawę za darmo. Zdjęcia są piękne, ale co za dużo, to niezdrowo: pół godziny bohater rąbie drewno.
Critics get soft seats and free coffee. The cinematography is beautiful, but you can have too much of a good thing: the hero spends half an hour chopping wood.
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A
A może właśnie o to chodzi? To rąbanie jest metaforą jego samotności, zatem skrócenie sceny byłoby okaleczeniem filmu.
But maybe that's the whole point? The chopping is a metaphor for his loneliness, so cutting the scene short would mutilate the film.
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B
Broni go pani, jak gdyby już go pani widziała. Należałoby go chyba najpierw obejrzeć, a dopiero potem się zachwycać.
You're defending it as if you'd already seen it. Surely you ought to watch it first and only then rave about it.
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A
Widziałam go jakieś czterdzieści razy, bo to ja robiłam montaż. Pół roku siedziałam z reżyserem nad tym drewnem.
I've seen it about forty times, because I'm the one who edited it. I spent six months with the director poring over that wood.
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B
O rany, to przepraszam za ten komentarz. Pewnie walczyła pani o każdą minutę tej sceny?
Oh gosh, sorry about that remark, then. I suppose you fought for every minute of that scene?
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A
Walczyłam, ale o skrócenie jej do trzech minut. Reżyser nie dał wyciąć ani jednego polana, więc poproszę jednak to espresso.
I did, but to get it cut down to three minutes. The director wouldn't let me cut a single log, so I'll have that espresso after all.
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