Ukranian Rhapsody
Director: Sergei Parajanov
The workers of the kolkhoz and the soldiers of the Soviet army
have contributed to this film
My friends my comrades
I want you to listen
This story is not only mine
I have just returned home with a wonderful victory
Me, a simple girl from a small village on the banks of the Dniepr
I won first prize, the gold medal
in an international singing competition
I won it
in a distant town in Western Europe
where I arrived a week ago.
Italians, English, French at the Capitol.
Soviet singers at the Theatre du Capitol
A city, strange to me
A life unknown and distant
Strange people
How will they receive me?
Can I find a way to their hearts?
Today I'm indifferent to them
But tomorrow?
Italians, English, French at the Capitol
Soviet singers at the Theatre du Capitol!
Did you say something?
The flowers have a unique scent.
Mademoiselle is Italian?
Remember the rules of the competition
In the first round, you are separated from the jury by a curtain.
The jury will only know your numbers.
You will sing in the language of the composer
If the president of the jury says "merci"
you will stop singing and leave the stage
Please ladies, would you rejoin the queue
Who will win the first prize?
Don't worry my dear, you'll go through
Don't be nervous
Please, take one
Number 33, on stage. What are you singing?
The first on the programme.
Second round
The next.
Me?
Next
Number 36, on stage.
Please
Which score?
The third
Is she Italian?
It doesn't really matter
It's remarkable
Jean, you are wrong
There's still some hope for humanity
We'll agree to differ
What a paradox!
Europe is like a cemetery, the world is in ruins. Suddenly,
Lucia's aria.
Don't you like it?
Not one bit
In music, I only like military marches.
- What did you say? - What?
Haven't you learnt anything?
When people sing
it's peaceful
I like it, I really like it
I asked if I could sing an encore.
An unforgettable song of my childhood
This song
has lived in my heart for as long as I can remember.
It's alright, let her listen
Years went by
and in my heart
a new song is born
You sing wonderully Oksana
That bird sings even better
Oksana
When you sing
everything stops to listen
You know,
It seems to me that the plants come alive
they are happy and dreamy
and even tuneful
You've seen how when the rye and the wheat have ripened
they sing like an enormous choir
And with the buckwheat, too
the whole field resounds like an orchestra
Close your eyes
and listen
How delighted he would have been, today
How he would have smiled, my Anton,
to hear of my success.
It's also his victory.
Perhaps more his than mine
But he's no more.
Behind the window of a railway truck in Germany
which has swallowed up my Anton for ever
I've waited three years for this day
It's as if I've come back from the dead
Oksana won't recognise me
Rudy!
Everything returns to life
You're going back. God willing, my Geinrikht also
I believe
War leaves indelible marks
We'll go this way, it's shorter
Look
A birch tree is growing on the altar
The earth is thirsty for peace
Goodbye, Rudy
I hope we'll see one another again
Good luck
This is for you, as a souvenir
Thank you
- Wind it up each morning - Thanks
Goodbye Germany!
You have burnt me in a cruel fire
And you yourself, have been burnt by the same flame
But you haven't destroyed my spirit
She fills my dreams once more.
Alive, with such unforgettable memories
You hear her voice?
You're going to marry,
You'll cultivate your garden.
You'll love your wife
You'll have children
And her?
Did you think of her Anton?
Her voice will take her to the Conservatoire.
I promise you, the Conservatoire.
And then the concert hall.
She must leave here
With you?
The concert now continues
Here is a work by Rimsky-Korsakov.
And here's our colleague, a student at the Conservatoire:
Vadim Tchaika.
Oksana?
It was when we said goodbye,
that I understood how much we loved one another.
Thank you
May I ... ?
Please. Come in.
Pleased to meet you
Well, now you're at the Conservatoire.
- Welcome - Thank you
Fine, Oksana
- Shall we get to work? - Yes, now that I'm here ...
Most important of all, breathing
You see?
Let's try.
Right ...
The genius of a composer, Beethoven
expresses in his symphony, the spirit of liberty of mankind...
That's enough, it's 4 in the morning.
The holidays are approaching.
We will see one another soon, Anton
I was one of those who defended Kiev.
I couldn't find Oksana at the Conservatoire
And the Conservatoire had disappeaped also.
We'll soon be at Sibirsk.
Sibirsk?
One hour to go.
Are you going there?
One hour?
Yes
Look what I've found.
Here, take it
Thanks
Do it for us.
Ask for a photo.
OK, I'll ask
Forward march
Anton!
Vadim! How are you?
You're looking well
What is it, Anton?
Nothing
Nothing.
Where have you come from?
I'm passing through
By chance, I heard about you
Are you staying long?
I wanted to see you
You and Oksana
Thanks, Anton
But Oksana isn't here.
Not here?
She left.
With the company.
Well...
Goodbye
It's good to have seen you.
I'll come with you
Thanks
When she returns,
give her this...
Goodbye
Write us, Anton
Are you alright?
It's nothing
Nothing at all...
Have you eaten anything today?
Yes
I can't, don't you understand?
What's wrong?
When one thinks...
All Ukraine's on fire.
And us here, singing away.
It so pointless.
When you think of victory
your exercises are important.
Perhaps.
But I can't any more.
I just can't.
The Conservatoire, had become my home,
my family and a hope for the future.
How sad I felt.
How difficult to leave there.
But I had no choice.
I wanted to join the army.
This is where fate led me.
Don't just stand there, give us a hand.
Like this. Be careful.
Oksana, he sings so beautifully.
- Come and see. - I don't want to.
- Just for a moment. I'll stay here. - No
- Oksana - Hello
Excuse me.
It the rules.
What do you want?
The same as always.
You can't.
- Have you heard them? - No, not yet.
That won't do.
Sit down
You'll make yourself ill.
You must be strong.
You're a nurse!
Lie down.
- Sleep for a bit - Nurse!
Oksana
I'm writing from the front.
I'm well despite everything,
because I'm thinking of you.
Imagine a theatre in ruins.
The worn-out features of the soldiers.
The scenery has survived.
Everything is floating
on Beethoven's majestic music.
Beethoven...
He also was German.
I don't often listen to Beethoven.
If he had only written the Clair de Lune Sonata
war would give way to it.
I listen to it
And in my imagination I'm back in our village
under the full moon.
Nurse!
Why aren't you listening to me?
I'm listening
Go on.
I can remember it all.
Write:
Sibirsk,
The Conservatoire.
Oksana Marchenko.
Tanks!
Anton was here.
I wasn't able to tell you
- He asked me to give you this... - Read it.
"We know that you will be an actress.
Perhaps you will find yourself on the stage.
Then don't forget the price that one has payed..."
Vadim, how can you?
How can you?
Oksana, try to understand.
Go on.
Do you hear?
The battles
The onslaughts
Blood
That's not the worst of war.
I've experienced worse than death
Be careful.
One at a time.
What is it?
What's the matter?
We said that
that a true artist is first of all a human being.
I wasn't able to understand.
I'm leaving for the front.
As a soldier?
Yes.
Goodbye.
You are well again now. You can leave.
I've some apples, and cakes. Can I?
Thank you
Lena, a gown.
- Who for? - Andriev Igor
- Which room? - Nine.
Mother couldn't come yesterday evening.
Would you like to talk to the doctor?
No.
I must let mother know.
Excuse me.
You've forgotten these.
Please, leave them in the room.
Number nine.
The years have past.
But Solveig still waits for Pergunt.
And here he appears to her in a dream.
And happiness seems to have returned.
Pergunt will never leave.
But it's only a dream.
Do you understand?
Thank you, nurse.
I can see.
Nadejda Petrovna!
Oksana!
My dear Nadejda Petrovna.
What is it?
Here.
Solveig?
We can try.
This parachute is for you
Turn it into a beautiful evening gown,
with sleeves like this.
It will soon be spring.
Victory
Anton
The Allies have arrived
The Allied army is here. Mary, mother of God.
Finally, comrades.
At last.
Anton
They're Russian.
Follow me please.
You'll see Major Jackson.
Gentlemen, be seated please.
A cigarette?
Anton Pitrienko.
Soviet soldier.
He escaped.
I've been hiding him.
You, ran away?
German?
Yes, I'm a organist.
I see.
You Russians you'll have to be detained.
Just a formality.
Excuse me gentlemen.
I have certain business to attend to.
You must stay here.
It's only a formality.
After you.
It's only a formality.
Only a formality...
It lasted so long, I stopped counting.
Memories of the first spring after the war.
After days of anguished waiting,
days of hope
and unexpected meetings.
Anton!
Oksana!
Vadim.
Son!
It's alright Mother.
Once more
What's your name?
Oksana.
D'you like singing?
I love it
Vadim
what are you going to do?
Stay here for a while.
I've come to understand a lot of things.
A new life lies ahead.
There's building work to do here.
Over there was the windmill,
we'll have a new school
You're laughing...
Don't you believe me?
I do.
The village...
Our desks...
I must leave.
More than ever, I want to sing.
and wait.
I believe.
Thank you Vadim.
That's it. All over.
Excellent.
but I can only give you a "Good".
Here, take this.
- Thank you. - Well done, Oksana.
Thank you.
The tracks, the roads...
Even the streams
that flow into a great river
and sink further on into the earth.
I'm returning to my native land.
I can't bring myself to believe that that which is on the path...
Anton!
Oksana!
My darling.
Anton
And the Dniepr
We come to pay hommage to you
The Dniepr
Yesterday, all was darkness
on your blessed banks.
Dniepr.
Today, the sun makes your waters sparkle.
Your mighty waves resound,
with such joyous music.
Subtitles: corvusalbus