Ohrid Express (1965)

[Music] but Liv your [Music] for a man in the uniform a man who is speaking is Petra miosi he just said the 3:00 train is leaving pmy I still have an hour 1 hour that's about three more trout Yanka will be happy Yanka is his mother she'll be happy about the trout in his sack Petra works for the railroad which explains his uniform the uniform is more impressive than the train but impressive or not for the local people it's the only train they would have to see others to judge this one and around here they never have known any others Petra mihalski is going to make the evening run on the orid express he has time and doesn't like to hurry Petra knows how to live he takes it easy and when from his train he sees this tiny corner of Yugoslavia he feels very happy Petra looks and listens the play of sunlight the clattering of the carts the russets and greens following the train all year long these are the things things that make Petra's day [Music] he has only one regret he would like to be a fisherman and spend the whole day on the [Music] water he's not a fisherman because his mother Yanka having spent her whole life as a peasant did not want him to be one Petra her oldest son would be an administrator and so he is Petra doesn't complain he envis his brother Marco who is a fisherman but their mother no longer Bears a peasant's [Music] burden Petra is saying that life here is very good when the hot Wind Blows there are plums to quench your thirst they ripen just when needed to relieve the summer heat there are three trains each day on this line from prek to orid 60 km in 3 hours the afternoon train carries wood from the mountains to the mine sacks of grain too during the harvest season it's a long run and the load is heavy his friend Nicola likes the afternoon run he is a rugged fellow when the train is too heavily loaded to pass over a steep grade Nicola loves the process of backing up detaching some cars and going forward again some people like extra problems not Petra though he prefers the evening train which carries passengers he's good natured and loves people he's not interested in their politics or religion he likes to watch people to see how they live and what they're doing he knows that sofa Dona is going to show off her newborn baby to her parents now living in gnik he knows that the pis every year Harvest their Bley before everyone else he knows the passenger told him he heard that in other parts of Yugoslavia grain is milled in enormous machines quickly and efficiently Petra thinks about this every time he sees the animals moving round and around he knows that progress has come to other places more quickly than here he doesn't like to think about this in other places there is greater need they get along all right [Music] [Music] here somewhere a clock sets time going again when Petra gets up and sees the people of his village going about their daily tasks a phrase comes back to him again and again in other places it is [Music] different is it bad that women go about their daily chores is it bad that their children are always near them or in their arms is it bad that men make a living by fishing on the lake instead of working at machines machines do things more quickly but why go more quickly is time in a hurry and what are we to do with the extra time machines make for us it's for this reason he would like to have been a fisherman time passes all by itself when you're fishing there's no need to get impatient that's what he loves about fishing time passes without the help of machines what machine could dry tobacco better than the Sun what machine could take care of the laundry better than the water of the lake [Music] [Music] he knows these people take great pride in wearing their best clothes on Sundays he knows the women take great pride in the shirts they make for their husbands and [Music] children there's nothing better than Lake water for these shirts when the washing Begins the backs of the women are supple as they prepare the fire to boil water later spines grow weary bending under the weight of the heavy cloth Petra's passengers tell him that in other places women don't work this hard he knows that there are even some who don't work at all here the women are healthy and strong they manage the laundry and their other work as it should be they do women's work and everything goes well elsewhere in the north where there are machines women's work has changed it's their right but here it's another story whether the fishing is good or bad whether or not the tobacco and corn harvests are plentiful there is always the sun and water of the lake to make things seem all [Music] right Petra says these problems don't concern him he doesn't worry about the future of the country know what will become of the children who live near the Lake will they be fishermen like Marco will they be Farmers like the rest of his family these are the things which Petra doesn't like to think about things will continue as they are and when they change it will be tomorrow or even after tomorrow but never the same day or so it seems well is the station where Petra starts his work he hears the train coming into the station and knows he can't linger anymore the evening run the conductor's orders Atlant of the engine he knows so well this concerns Petra in other places they have more modern equipment at Scopia and belgrad he has seen some it amuses them to ask the age of his engine it dates from 1895 he knows there amus smile and condescending manner he sees the way they make fun of him and he doesn't like it he has often dreamed of running a whe train between be and Scopia passing through orid a real train with tracks running off to Infinity the train is something which concerns Peta you'd like that to change quickly not tomorrow though at this moment he feels almost enough courage to want the progress of other places to come to this corner of Macedonia he knows that it's possible once again he sees p ing before his eyes the lives of men and women from his home and now he no longer envies even his brother Marco pulling in his Nets on the lake now everything becomes calm and simple for pet things will continue as they are and if they change it will be tomorrow [Music]