MOSFILM Studio
THE FORTY-FIRST
Based on a story by B. Lavrenyov
Written by G. KOLTUNOV
Directed by G. CHUKHRAI
Director of Photography S. URUSEVSKY
Music by N. KRYUKOV
Sound Engineer L. BULGAKOV
Cast:
Maryutka Izolda IZVITSKAYA
Lieutenant Oleg STRIZHENOV
Commissar Yevsyukov Nikolai KRYUCHKOV
Chupilko - N. DUPAK Terentyev - G. SHAPOVALOV
Guzhov - P. LYUBESHKIN Gvozdev - L. KOVYLIN
That time has gone from us for good...
...yet it will stay with us forever.
Let's go back to those turbulent, beautiful years,
the first years of the Revolution.
A defeated Red Army detachment was retreating
from the Caspian Sea into the sands of Kara Kum.
Only twenty three people and their Commissar, Yevsyukov,
managed to break out of the deadly encirclement.
They were Red Army men, just ordinary people.
And among them, there was Maryutka,
their unit's best sniper.
She never missed a shot.
She had thirty eight White Guards to her credit.
An officer!
The thirty-ninth! Fish cholera.
The fortieth!
Captain! They're bout five versts away!
Semyonov and Kharundzha have been killed.
How many of them?
About twenty.
Let them go.
We're not going to chase them.
They'll die themselves in the sands.
Thus, the remnants of the Guriev special detachment
found themselves 37 versts North- West from the wells,
without food,
water
and any hope of rescue.
There's only one way for us -
across the sands to the Aral Sea.
And from there take a detour to Kazalinsk,
where the front's headquarters are.
And what are we going to eat?
We'll have to tighten our belts.
We're not some princes.
You want to be served sardines and honey?
We've got some rice.
When we eat it up, we'll kill camels.
And then each other?
No arguing!
You know your revolutionary duty? Or up against the wall!
There's no wall here,
only that damned sand.
- Get up, Comrade Commissar! - What? What is it?
- What's up? - A caravan's coming!
What caravan? Stop lying!
Camels, about a dozen of them!
It's not far, about three versts from here.
Follow me!
I hope we'll catch them!
As soon as we see them, attack! Don't spare your feet!
Half of you to the right, the rest to the left! Forward march!
God has sent them. He had mercy on us.
The God Almighty!
There's no God, how many times do I have to tell you?
There's a reason for everything!
Halt!
Any guns? Put them on the ground!
Or I'll kill everybody!
Follow me!
Get down!
Don't fire at the camels!
They're good shots!
There's an officer behind the camel.
I see him.
The forty-first!
I missed!
Fish cholera.
That's it!
- That's it! - Wait!
- And no arguing! - Listen!
It's death for a Kazakh without camels!
Take the money. Leave me the camels!
How much money do you want?
Leave the camels!
Can't you understand, you blockhead,
I'm not robbing you,
I'm taking them for revolutionary needs!
My lord!
It will be death without camels!
I'm no lord to you.
- Wait! Wait! - That's all.
You can walk, but we're going to die here.
How much money do you want? The czar's money.
I'm leaving you half of them.
- For these, I'll give you a receipt. - What do I need it for?
Oh, my lord.
Too bad.
- Oh, it's too bad. - I said that's it.
Don't do so.
- Take the money. - You got your receipt. That's all.
Who are you?
Lieutenant Govorukha-Otrok.
And who are you?
Comrade Commissar, there's a note under the lining.
He got it sewn into the lining.
Here.
To whom it may concern.
Lieutenant Govorukha-Otrok, Vadim Nikolayevich,
is authorized by the government of Russia's supreme ruler,
Admiral Kolchak,
to represent him at the Caspian government
of General Denikin.
The secret information is to be communicated verbally
to General Dratsenko.
What secret information?
Come on, tell me everything.
You're our prisoner.
And I'm the commander, Commissar Yevsyukov.
Monsieur Yevsyukov?
Nice to meet you.
Answer my questions!
I'm not authorized to conduct diplomatic negotiations
with the likes of you.
You...
White moth!
Tell me or you'll gobble up the bullet!
If you kill me...
You'll gobble up nothing at all.
All right.
Soon you'll sing a different song.
You'll dance to another tune!
Comrade Commissar,
want me to send him to paradise?
No, we'd better not.
He's a big fish.
We'll deliver him to headquarters. Let them interrogate him.
- What do we need him for? - To drag him with us?
- Now we're recruiting officers? - Quiet!
I'm taking him, I will answer for him.
Maryutka...
I entrust his Excellency to you.
Keep your eyes on him! Don't let him escape!
Yes!
Umankul.
Guard the camels. Without them we'll be dead.
All right, Commissar. They'll be safe with me.
All right.
Get ready!
Hey, you!
You'll be under my guard.
Why are you staring?
You think you can escape from me?
I won't miss again.
- Very nice. - What?
It's nice to be a prisoner of a charming Amazon.
Riffraff!
- Merci. - Merci!
I bet you only know how to dance.
Go on!
Fish cholera.
- Well, we're doing fine? - Doing alright.
Now, the camel.
Stop whoa-ing him! It's a camel, not a horse.
He doesn't understand your horsy language.
Just look at Maryutka taming her lover boy.
She's hobbled his Excellency in no time at all.
What are you doing?
He's got no tail. How is he going to chase flies away?
And what if he runs away?
You silly, there's nothing but sands around.
It might be sands, but I'll feel surer this way.
Go on, sleep, "cavalier".
Boy, I wish I could find a way to approach her.
Go and try...
One guy already tried to approach her...
- Well? - Nothing doing.
He was rebuffed before he could approach her.
- Who was he? - It was before your time.
Come on, tell me, who was he?
- Come on! - It was me!
You're lying!
I got a mug swollen like that.
She did me over with a gun's handle. One of my teeth was gone.
Serious girl.
If you only try, you'll lose all your teeth.
It's unfair. You lost one and I'll lose all?
I'll take care of the rest.
What is that?
A hungry jackal wailing.
Crying like a child.
Pussy willows are now in bloom in our village.
I pity that Kazakh...
A Kazakh can't do without a camel.
Sure thing...
It's no life for a peasant without cattle.
Where are the camels?
You were asleep, weren't you?!
Yes, you were!
Where're the camels?
Where are the camels? Damn it!
What have you done!
- What happened? - The camels have been stolen.
- What are you saying? - Umankul has stolen them.
And Chipilko was sleeping.
That's what I call discipline!
- Shut up! - Enough of that.
Can you at least keep silent, fish cholera?
Commissar!
Commissar, you were cursing Umankul.
I would've strangled him with my own hands.
Come on, Commissar. Umankul's lying over there.
Forgive us, brother.
There's no wall here, Commissar.
Shoot me just like that. I deserved it.
Line up!
Why are you standing? Let's go.
Get in the line, Andrei.
We'll try you when we get to headquarters.
Come on!
Here, Colonel.
Now tell me the truth, how it happened?
It is the truth, I swear!
We were attacked by soldiers. They took the camels.
It's death for a Kazakh without camels.
Where's the officer?
What have you done with the officer?
What I have done?
Did the Reds kill the officer?
He went to Kara Kum.
I'm a poor man. Where can I go without a camel?
Send men after them now!
- It's impossible! - Are you out of your mind?
Our fate depends on the information that officer has!
Immediately!
To the headquarters!
Yes, sir!
Mount up!
And now only eleven of them are going over the sands.
The rest have been snatched out from the ranks by the desert.
Their graves have stood like landmarks on the black path.
And those who remained alive
continued on their way...
to the Aral Sea.
Why should we drag him along? Let's do the bastard in!
Only the devil can understand you!
Are you a cart horse or what?
You look so puny, but you carry on for two men.
- What? Is it bad? - That's it.
That's the end.
I'm staying here.
No!
You can't be a deserter from the Revolution.
Get up.
Get up!
I'm not going any further!
We'll die anyway!
Get up!
Give me a break...
I can't stand it any more!
Get up!
The Aral Sea, guys!
The Aral Sea!
Hello.
Where are you going?
We're the Reds.
We're going to Kazalinsk.
Take us in, good man.
Give us some food.
The Soviet power will thank you for us.
Are you a Red?
A Bolshevik? Did you come from the center?
No, we're not from the center.
We're making our way from Guriev.
- From Guriev? - Yes.
- You've gone through Kara Kum? - Yes.
- Without camels? - Yes, without camels.
It's impossible!
Aksakal!
Go inside.
Have a nap, eat some pilaf.
Has she lassoed him?
Tie up your lover boy tight.
Like a dog on a chain!
- Is this yours? - Yes, mine.
What's your name?
Don't you understand?
I am Maryutka, and you?
I am Altynai.
Altynai, give me a piece of paper.
I need to write something.
- Paper? - Yes.
- It's pretty. - Yes, pretty.
Isn't she charming?
Pretty?
Altynai, stay away from him. He's a prisoner.
Leave her alone.
I know myself what to do.
Go away.
What do you want?
She likes my shoulder strap.
Then give it to her.
Take it and get out.
Go away!
Boy, how happy she is.
She looks like a young woman, but really she is a child.
What is it you're writing?
What do you care?
Perhaps you want to write a letter?
- Dictate it and I will write. - Smart boy!
I'll untie your hands and you will escape?
You're barking up the wrong tree, my dear.
I don't need your help.
It's not a letter I'm writing, it's verses.
Verses?
You're writing verses?
You think I'm too stupid for that?
I'm not stupider than you are.
I don't think you're stupid.
But is it the right time for writing verses?
It's just the time!
But they don't work out all right.
Read it to me.
I understand about verses.
No, you won't understand.
You're of lordly blood, you like verses about flowers...
And I'm writing about the revolution.
Perhaps they're alien to me,
but I can understand them.
Well, what the heck! Listen!
- You won't laugh at me? - No.
Listen, then.
When the Cossacks were attacking,
Hangmen, hirelings of the czar,
We just met them with fire cracking,
We, Red fighters, brave we are!
There were lots of those Cossacks -
We were forced to beat a retreat.
Yevsyukov, our leader heroic,
Ordered us to break through their breed!
Our machinegun fired bullets,
We were bound to die anyway.
Down went all our unit,
Twenty to the steppe made way!
Can't make it up any further.
I can't, for the life of me!
I don't know where to put the camels in.
Yes...
It's very good.
So much expressivity.
Much of what?
A lot of feeling, understand?
One can see it's written from the heart.
Yes, they're heartfelt.
I write from my heart.
But they won't print them,
they say they're not finished.
But how to finish them?
You're an intelligent man. Maybe you know that?
It's not a simple thing to explain.
Writing verses is an art.
And every art requires knowledge.
If an engineer doesn't know the rules of constructing a bridge,
he will either never build it, or build a bad bridge.
A bridge that cannot be used.
For a bridge you need arithmetic,
but my verses come from my heart.
- But you've got no skill. - No, I haven't.
You need to study.
I'm afraid I do.
But never mind.
First we'll crush the counterrevolution,
and then I'll go to school to learn how to write verses.
Are there such schools?
I think there are.
Listen, Cadet, do your hands hurt?
Not very much. They just feel numb.
Look...
Swear you won't run away, then I'll untie you.
Where can I run away? To the sands?
- To be eaten by jackals? - Come on, swear. Repeat after me.
I swear by the poor proletariat
fighting for its rights,
and before Maria Basova, that I shall not run away.
I swear.
Now if you run away, you'll be the worst scoundrel.
Here, cover yourself.
Thank you.
Good night, Maria.
Filatovna is the patronymic.
Filatovna.
The Commissar wanted to deliver the lieutenant as soon as possible.
So he decided to send him by sea, with Maryutka and two soldiers.
The rest were to go along the shore
in order to form a new detachment on their way.
Why are you standing? Go.
You'll be in charge.
Keep your eyes peeled for the cadet! If he slips away, it'll be your end.
Goodbye.
And one more thing.
Tell them at headquarters to send us backup.
And if you run into the Whites, don't let them have him alive.
- All right. - You got it?
Go.
All together. Come on, push!
Just look at him! Taking himself to prison.
Yeah.
They'll interrogate him at headquarters, and up against the wall.
Where did you learn seafaring?
In Petersburg.
I had my own yacht.
I used to sail in the bay.
At home in Astrakhan, the rich also had yachts.
Very beautiful.
Water!
So clean, so blue!
I don't even know what to compare it to. Do you?
Yes, it's amazingly blue!
Oh God! And your eyes are
as blue as the sea!
Damn it! The wind is from the east!
Never mind. They'll get to Barsa and spend the night there.
Cut the sheets!
Vyakhir!
Semyonov!
Our soldiers got drowned!
Oh, hell! It's just a fairy tale!
Robinson accompanied by Man Friday.
We need some light to look around.
The wick got wet.
Damn it!
Where are you?
Answer me!
Here I am!
Here, unscrew the bullet.
Ready.
Pour the gunpowder out. Done it?
Light it up.
- What are we going to burn? - The fish.
- It's fatty. - How is it possible?
We burned fishes on the Volga. They burn better than firewood.
Oh, it's too bad about the boys. They drowned just for nothing.
We need to dry our clothes,
or we'll catch a cold.
What's stopping you?
Take them off and dry them.
You dry up and I'll wait out there.
Just look at that strong wind!
You'll freeze to death!
Won't I embarrass you?
Stop talking nonsense! The ideas you gentlefolks get!
Go on, undress!
Undress, you idol!
What a pain in the neck you are!
- Maria Filatovna? - What?
I want to lie down.
I have a terrible headache.
That's from the smoke and exhaustion.
Cover yourself.
Go to sleep. I'll sit here.
Then you'll stand on guard.
Get up.
Come on, wake up!
Do you hear?
Watch the fire.
I'll go onto the shore.
We're lucky that the boat hasn't sunk.
Perhaps we can make it to Kazalinsk.
There're some cakes in the sack. Eat them.
Get up, we're in trouble!
Wake up, we're in trouble!
It's our end!
He did catch cold. He's raving!
He's going to die.
What shall I say to the commissar?
Oh, my poor blue-eyed fool!
What is it?
Where am I?
Have you forgotten?
It's me, Maryutka! You remember now?
Ah, Man Friday!
Raving again.
You and your Friday. I don't remember what day is today.
It's not the day, there's such a name.
Don't get up and don't talk, or you'll get ill again.
Oh, I have to give you something to eat.
Wait a minute.
It's hot!
- Does your head hurt? - No.
Good. You yelled in your sleep.
You talked and gave commands.
There's wind and emptiness around,
and only we two on the island. I was scared.
- How did you manage? - I managed alright.
I was only afraid you were going to die.
Here...
Eat it.
Thank you, my dear.
Eat.
I'm not some beast
to let a man die.
But I'm a cadet, your enemy...
Some enemy, if you can't even raise your hand.
Go on, eat.
I had enough, now you eat.
I don't want to, I'm not hungry.
Come on, eat.
What is it?
I'd like a smoke.
A smoke?
Here.
There's some tobacco left. I dried it up.
I knew you'd like a smoke.
You're pure gold, Mashenka! You're better than a nurse.
I see you can't do without a nurse.
Too bad there's no paper.
Paper?
Here, roll yourself a cigarette.
But these are your poems!
You're out of your mind!
I will not take it!
Take it, damn you!
What a pain in the neck you are!
Thank you, Mashenka.
I shall never forget it.
The Reds, have they been here, in the aul?
Have they been to other auls?
He doesn't know.
We found a shoulder strap in the hut.
Maybe it's his, or maybe not.
The devil only knows.
So you say there have been no Reds?
And what is this? Where's the officer?
I'm asking you for the last time!
Get ready!
Speak up, you dog!
You yourself a dog!
You've got no truth! The truth is mine!
Take aim!
I took the shoulder strap! It's my fault!
Take her!
I'm looking at you and can't understand
why you've got such eyes?
I was born like that.
When we took you prisoner, I thought...
What?
About your eyes...
You've got dangerous eyes.
Dangerous for whom?
For women.
They get right to your heart, they stir you up.
Have they stirred you up too?
You devil!
Don't ask such questions!
You blue-eyed fool!
Hey, cadet!
We'll do fine! I found something.
I found a fisherman's hut! It's a real palace!
Glass windows, a stove!
- And where are you going? - To meet you.
Silly, you'll catch a cold again. The wind is so strong.
Tomorrow we're moving to a new flat.
- Let me carry something too. - Go on!
I can't go like that!
You'll get ill again! Go on!
I'm absolutely well!
No way you're well!
I'm telling you, I'm well!
Silly!
All right, take it!
Look what I found!
Flour, rice!
We'll live like kings now!
Good for you, Masha! I would have died without you.
Sure thing, with your delicate hands.
- What are we going to do now? - What do you mean, what to do?
Wait for the fishermen.
They'll be here in a couple of weeks for fishing, and they'll help us.
I hope they will.
Or what if Yevsyukov shows up?
That would be a real luck, wouldn't it?
Yes... real luck. My sweet Man Friday.
- There you go again. - What?
Talking again about Friday.
There's such a story,
about a man finding himself on an island.
And he had a friend named Man Friday.
- Tell me about it. - It's a long story.
We're in no hurry. Tell me.
I almost forgot it.
Try to remember!
Tell me!
In the city of Liverpool,
once there lived a man.
His name was Robinson Crusoe.
And he had a passion
for traveling and adventures.
So he decided to see how people live in other parts of the world
and set out for a long journey
on a tall sailing ship
That's the story of the adventures of Robinson
and his friend, Man Friday.
How interesting!
I could listen to it forever...
You liked it?
How do you know all that?
I didn't become a lieutenant the moment I was born.
Before the war, I was a student.
Studying philology.
And I had a normal human life:
our house in Petersburg,
books...
Three walls of books.
Our lamp with a green lampshade.
Why did you stop? Go on, tell me.
I don't feel like it.
I feel tired after my illness.
Oh, my poor, weak boy!
Oh hell, how nonsensical!
What do you mean?
Life is so nonsensical!
I've lived 27 years,
wandering around the world in search of some ideal.
If someone had told me that here, surrounded by the sea,
I would spend the most content days of my life,
I would have never believed it.
- What days did you say? - Content.
The days when...
...you merge into nature,
when you feel part of it
and rejoice together with it.
You speak like a learned man, and I will put it simply:
I am happy.
I wish I never had to leave this island.
Just stay here forever.
Basking in the sun.
No, I wouldn't stay here.
I miss real people.
- Aren't we real? - Of course we are...
It's not the time to loaf around.
Our men are shedding their blood there.
You want to be a soldier again?
Of course!
And I'm sick and tired of all that nonsense!
So many years of blood and venom!
The German war, the civil war! It's some nightmare!
People are fighting for the truth.
I don't want that truth! I want peace!
To get back to my books...
I want to forget everything!
So may the earth split apart,
and you'll be reading your books?
Split apart? Let it split apart!
With no ideals, no home country!
The devastated earth is perishing!
Oh, hell! There're thousands of truths!
German truth, Russian truth, the peasants' truth, the owners' truth,
the Bolsheviks' truth!
To hell with it all!
I don't want any other truth but my own!
I don't want to sully myself!
Let the others rummage in the dung, right?
Yes, let the others do it!
Those who like it!
How can you?
Mashenka, wait! I didn't mean to hurt you!
Try to understand, I'm very tired!
We'll get out of here and go to my place.
We'll live together, just the two of us. You'll go to school.
You're offering me
to loll on a feather-bed with you and eat chocolates?
When those chocolates are all smeared with blood?
- Why are you being so crude? - Crude?
And you want it handed to you on a silver platter?
You don't like the Bolshevik truth,
but what do you know about it?
Do you know that it's all soaked through with tears?
No, I don't know it.
It's strange. You're a girl, but you've become so hardened.
To get mixed up with the like of you!
For shame!
Mashenka, let's go and wallow in bed!
You sluggard! You dirty louse!
Stop swearing! Don't forget yourself!
You lout!
You're lucky you are a woman.
I hate you!
Trash!
For how long are we to go on like that?
All right...
I'm sorry.
It pains me that I have hurt you.
Why? Are you hungry?
Don't dare saying so! Do you hear?
I hear you, I'm not deaf.
What kind of talk is that?
It's no way to talk.
We're in love with each other! We lived so well before that fight!
You know what, my dear?
Forget about everything there was between us.
Why?
What happened?
Nothing happened.
I just forgot myself looking at your eyes.
Listening to your voice.
It's all gone now, as if it has never been.
So calm down. Better eat some fish.
As you wish!
I'm not forcing myself upon you.
Mashenka!
Why did I fall in love with you?
You're breaking my heart.
You have worn me out!
Stop it, Masha. Calm yourself.
I thought you were strong!
That you were clever and would understand me!
Let's not talk about that now!
I'll think about it later.
But don't do it now, don't cry, my dear.
Calm yourself.
Now, that's good.
Let's forget about it.
Mashenka! My darling!
My good one!
You don't know yourself how good you are.
Say that you love me.
I do, but I am grieved that you're so backward.
Well, I've got some grievances, too.
The revolution!
I dreamed of it as of a bride.
I believed in it.
In all my career of an officer I've never laid a finger on a soldier!
But they caught me in Gomel and spit in my face!
Why?
And the other officers, they bled the soldiers white!
How they abused us. You forgot about it?
How can you talk about your grievances?
Maybe you're right...
It's stupid.
I can't stand it any longer!
If the fishermen are not here in three days, I'll shoot myself.
And wasn't it you who called my a sluggard!
I did because you deserved it.
Will you deny it?
Come on!
Say that you deserved it!
Yes, I deserved it.
So you got wiser now?
Yes, I got wiser.
Thank you, you helped me to get wiser.
It's too early to think of getting back to my books.
I still have to live a real life!
And grit my teeth.
And bite like a wolf!
Did you really come to your senses?
I did.
If we go back to our books now
and let you manage the land,
you're going to do something terrible to it!
No, Man Friday!
A sail!
- The fishermen! - Mashenka!
Oh, my little fool!
The queen of the land of Amazons!
- Mashenka! - Let go off me!
We need to give them a signal.
Why signal?
They may pass by us. Get the gun!
- Come on! - Yes!
Stop fooling! Fire three times!
That sail is very strange...
It doesn't look like they're the fishermen.
Fire again.
These are our men!
Our men!
Hurry up, gentlemen!
This way!
Halt!
Halt, you lousy cadet!
Halt!
Masha...
Blue Eyes!
No.
Blue Eyes!
The End