A STRICT YOUNG MAN
Ukrainfilm Studio Kiev, 1935
Script by Yuli Olesha Directed by Abram Room
Camera Yu. Yekelchuk
Art department M. Umansky, V. Kaplunovsky
Music by G. Popov
Sound department A. Babiy, A. Demidenko
Cast:
Surgeon Stepanov - Yu. Yuryev Masha, his wife - O. Zhizneva
Grisha Fokin - D. Dorliak Fyodor Tsitronov - M. Schtrauch
Liza, YCL member - V. Serova Nikolai, discobolus - G. Sochevko
Olga, YCL Bureau member - I. Volodko Olga's father - A. Chistyakov
Soviet authorities have lavished attention on the famous surgeon Stepanov.
A dacha and a garden are in his possession. That's where he lives with his wife...
...and where a freeloader, Fyodor Tsitronov lives with them.
There. Grisha's coming.
Yes, that's him. We agreed he'd arrive by four.
Will he find the way? - Why wouldn't he?
He'll ask. Everyone around knows where's Dr. Stepanov's dacha.
You know, Masha dear, you'd better go and meet him. It's impolite otherwise.
It's his first visit.
Fyodor!
What's the matter?
Have you been smoking cigars?
Yes.
Please refrain from smoking.
I can't? - You can't.
Doctor's orders?
Your host's orders.
You're joking.
I see you're in a mood.
Why?
You feel uneasy because your wife...
...went to meet that young man.
Idiot.
Who do you need? Who? Who?
Grisha!
Well, what do you think?
Is the cognac any good?
It's superb.
It's Yulian Nikolayevich's favorite brand.
The authorities send thim those.
Who?
Au-tho-ri-ties.
Why are you surprised?
I'm not, I just didn't hear well.
I see.
Tell him to not talk to Grisha like that. It's outrageous.
Why are you keeping this man in your house?
Well, dear Masha, he's my friend. - That's not true.
You like his toading.
There are few people like Yulian Nikolayevich.
Are there a lot of people like you?
Yes. A lot.
See, Yulian, even the socialist system has its "few" and "many."
There shouldn't be any arbitrary leveling, of course.
There shouldn't be what? - Leveling.
It's not a philosophical term. - Yes, it is.
Will you go for a walk with us?
No, dear Masha, I'm too old. After lunch, I want to sit quietly.
Well, it's very natural.
What's natural?
That she likes that young man.
Only he's poor.
Why are you saying that?
I'm humoring you.
She won't leave you.
She got used to luxury.
You want to say I bought her?
Yulik, Yulik!
Yulik, let me go!
Don't be mad.
What I said was awful.
She loves you. I know it. She's madly in love with you.
I won't.
I won't really.
Come to us on the 10th. We'll have a party.
I'm going to London, you know, for the international oncology congress.
Yes, I know. You'll make a presentation. What about?
Current affairs, young man.
Why are you asking what it's about? You're not a specialist.
It's about resurrecting people.
Yulian Nikolayevich literally resurrects people...
and you're asking so casually what it's about...
as if it were a presentation at a housing committee.
The cheek!
He's in the house of a great scientist...
Get out!
Did you hear me?
He's taken to boasting about me.
You like it.
Don't be ridiculous.
Don't forget, then: the evening of the 10th.
I had a dream. A car drove up to the stadium...
and a woman was in the driver's seat.
From the distance, she looked like you. The hat, you know, very similar.
Could it be her, I thought?
And? Was it me?
No. I ran towards her, and suddenly she stepped out of the car.
She was a foreinger. German.
With a large nose, glasses, quite ugly.
What can they talk about? I wonder.
Don't forget, Grisha, on the 10th, in the evening.
That's what I'm going to say at the international congress in London:
Esteemed gentlemen!
In conclusion...
I would like to list my colleagues...
assistants and graduate students...
who had participated in the work whose results have just been offered...
for your review, esteemed gentlemen.
First of all, I must name...
...my wife.
Please mark these pages with Roman numerals.
And besides, esteemed lady, you've mixed them up.
It's Walter Weber we're talking about, not Bruno Weber.
Fyodor!
You want a cigar?
I see you're in a better mood. Did you make up with her?
Yes. We decided to not invite him to our place any more.
Just think: Masha's name gossiped about by the whole stadium.
It should be brought to a stop.
What about the party? Didn't you invite him?
Big deal. It can be canceled.
Uncle!
Hello, Kolya.
Uncle, I need a tailcoat.
You'll get it back, Kolya, won't you? I'll be held responsible.
Kolya, I'm committing a crime here.
Uncle, I need a tailcoat.
I'm committing a crime here.
It's a tailcoat from "La Traviata."
I'm committing a crime, I do.
You hear, Kolya? It's a tailcoat from "La Traviata."
Mom!
I'm here, Grisha.
How do you do, Grigori Ivanovich.
Why are you looking in the mirror all the time, Katya?
Because I'm ugly.
It's okay, Katya.
Beauty is a dialectical concept.
It only occurs between two people.
When a person is alone, by himself, it's impossible to say...
whether he's pretty or ugly.
When another person appears and tells to that first person...
"I love you"...
...the first person immediately becomes beautiful. Do you understand?
Really? - Of course.
I've had a person come to me and say
"I love you."
That means you're beautiful now.
Am I?
Mom, am I pretty?
Of course you are.
No one told me "I love you" yet.
You're beautiful anyway.
He's compiled the third set of "Ready for Labor and Defense" requirements.
Who did?
Grisha Fokin.
What kind of requirements?
Moral ones.
What does it mean?
A set of moral values.
Which moral values a Young Communist League member shoud cultivate.
For example?
A clear goal is number one.
No double-mindedness or ambiguity.
Persistence, to overcome weekness and hesitation.
Strength of character.
That's right!
Go on.
Humanity - not just to love, to hate, too.
Modesty - to avoid rudeness and bad manners.
What else... Sincerity - telling the truth.
Magnanimity.
Meaning what?
Don't you understand? Not gloating over a friend's mistakes.
Generosity, to uproot the feeling of property.
And sentimentality.
Oh, sentimentality?
To a certain point. To love waltzes along with the marches.
Go on, go on!
Severity towards selfishness. - That's right!
Well, and... chastity.
Chastity? Really?
Don't you understand?
These are bourgeois qualities. - No, these are human qualities.
What does it mean - human?
Don't you understand?
The bourgeoisie has distorted these concepts because there was the power of money.
Without the power of money, like now, all these feelings...
regain their pristine nature. Don't you understand?
Are you angry? Are you by any chance jealous?
Who's that? Is that her?
Please, let's go back.
No, it's awkward now. They all saw.
Which moral qualities, according to that theory of yours...
are you currently developing?
Shyness? I think it's cowardice.
- You came to see Grisha Fokin? - Yes.
He knows you're here. He saw you. But he's hiding.
Hiding?
Yes. He's afraid to look at you because he loves you.
How odd! Like in a dream.
A naked person comes up and says that someone loves my wife.
Why are you here, Grisha?
You should come up to her. Don't you understand?
What did he say? What did you say? Masha?
I said that you're in love with that citizen.
Masha, I think this is a stupid conversation.
I'm right. According to his theory, a YCL member must speak the truth.
So I did.
Grisha!
Grisha! Grisha!
He doesn't hear. Don't you understand?
I don't know, mom. Should I go or not?
You said yourself that a YCL member must be resolute.
Yes, but they left the stadium without saying a word to me.
All desires must be fulfilled. Then a person can be truly happy.
Don't you understand?
If desires are not fulfilled, a person becomes unhappy.
You can't suppress desires. Suppress desires cause bitterness.
A person becomes unhappy. That's the theory. There.
You want to sit on a step - sit down!
You want to stand up - stand up!
It's quite simple.
You want to jump - jump.
You want to topple a glass - topple it!
Phew...
I'm so tired of my debauchery.
What's happening to you?
There's a theory, you know: one shouldn't suppress desires.
I wanted to pour water, so I did.
You wanted to pour it out? - Yes.
Maybe you'd want to wipe it, too?
Not at the moment.
So you don't want to?
I think you do. I do, I do!
Will you go like that? - What do you mean?
They won't let you in like that. Everyone will be wearing a tailcoat.
Dr. Yulian N. Stepanov
and his spouse Maria Mikhailovna
are excluding you from their house.
Do you understand this phrase?
Why do they exclude him?
They ask you not to visit any more.
Okay.
You've said yourself
that there are few people like Dr. Stepanov
and many people like yourself. Is it correct?
Yes.
So, you agree that socialism is inequality?
Speak simply. Of course, there shouldn't be leveling.
There shouldn't be what? - Leveling.
It's not a philosophical term.
Yes, it is!
I wanted to kiss him, so I did.
One should fulfill one's wishes.
Who sent you?
Dr. Stepanov and Masha.
And Masha?
Yes, and Masha.
Why do you hang your head?
You want to go to the party, huh?
It's beautiful there, behind our fence, isn't it.
Flowers...
Guests will come tonight.
There'll be a party.
And a recital.
Masha will shine in her evening gown.
Oh, what joy to sit at dinner
opposite your beloved...
She's eating a cake, you're looking at her, and...
you think that her every gulp
is like a kiss.
But you don't even have a tailcoat. Do you?
He doesn't have one.
Right. I'm talking away.
Good-bye, young men. Good-bye, oh drab ones.
Live your drab lives.
It's a Nazi take on Communism! Don't you understand?
Who the hell are you? - Me?
How dare you speak like that? - Me?
I'm the stresser of inequality.
What was that you said, dear Liza? One should fulfill one's desires?
What if I desire to smack him in the face?
Don't suppress your desire. Hit him!
The fence! You scoundrel!
"The stresser of inequality." Did you hear that?
It means lack of faith, complete lack of faith in us...
in our power, mind, our culture.
Did you understand? Grisha, how could he dare?
We'll be outstanding, too! How could he dare?
He should be killed.
I sent the tailcoat on purpose. So that he'd understand and be ashamed.
You idiot! You wuss!
You should fight for what's yours!
If I were in your place, I'd win her away from that professor.
A YCL member must be brave!
The thing is, Masha doesn't love me. She doesn't. End of story.
She loves him, not me. That's all. A YCL member must be precise.
Do you want me to put on the tailcoat and go to the ball?
Please do! And bring some cakes. He spoke so alluringly about cakes.
You hear, Grisha? I'll put on a tailcoat and go kiss Masha!
Grisha!
What are you doing? It's a tailcoat from "La Traviata"!
What?
You're bothering us, Masha.
I'm sorry.
What?
You're bothering us, Masha.
I'm sorry.
What?
You're bothering us, Masha.
What does it mean - "she's bothering"?
She's music personified.
She's music personified!
Masha...
That's her movement. Listen!
That's her posture.
Listen!
That's her kiss. Listen!
Was there a party?
The ball was canceled.
You know, Grisha, I went to see Olga tonight.
I wanted to talk to her. Turns out she was sick.
They didn't let me in. So I came here.
You weren't in. I decided to wait and sat here all night long.
What did you want to discuss with Olga?
Dr. Stepanov.
Grisha, listen to me.
I wanted to ask Olga...
whether Dr. Stepanov...
might be perpetrating a horrible crime against our society.
Against the society which will have no classes soon.
Okay, go on.
I know what you want to say. - You do?!
Grisha!
Sleep on, mom.
I want to speak about the principal law...
which will serve as foundation for all laws of the class-free society.
Which law is that?
No person may have power over another person.
Is that right? - That's right.
He, this great man...
...is abusing his greatness.
He sent a man to make fun of you!
He sent a dog to torture you!
Think about it. That's true.
You just don't know: maybe she...
...Masha...
...loves you.
No!
No? Are you sure?
I'm sure.
That's not true. Out of respect for him...
you're convincing yourself that she doesn't love you.
To not bother him in his work and creativity.
You're a good YCL member. That's the problem.
Such a pity Olga got sick!
She knows everything. She'd explain everything.
Is there this power of one person over another or not?
This kind of power is pure.
He's not a banker. He's a great scientist, a genius. Do you understand?
The power of genius remains, then?
The power of genius?
Worshipping the great architects of socialism?
Creators of thought, science, art?
The desire to be like them?
Yes, it remains. For me, it does. For a YCL member, it does.
Do you understand what I'm telling you?
Influence of a lofty mind is a beautiful kind of power.
Such a shame Olga's sick!
Grisha. - What do you want?
You say there are many people like you but he's unique, right?
Yes.
You're unique, too.
For you. - Yes, for me.
But you're my mother. You're bound to think your son's the best.
Yes, you are the best.
For you. For his mother.
What about his country?
Grisha, half of this country are mothers.
You know, the old lady may be right.
Comrades, Olga's dying! The guys came and said they took her to the hospital.
What are you saying?
Who's Olga, Grisha?
Olga, the member of YCL bureau.
She was here, remember? The... the pretty one.
Who's that? - That's her husband.
Don't you understand?
Do you want anything from London, Ivan Germanovich?
A hat?
A hat? A hat would be nice.
A hat it is, then.
Quiet!
The hat - which size?
Ask him which size. Ask him!
Calm down, Yulian. Calm down, please.
Temperature! What's her temperature?
She's alive.
May I wait here?
She's alive.
May I give a gift to the professor?
She's alive!
I'll make a stopover in Copenhagen by all means.
Copenhagen...
Who ate the second peach? Fyodor!
Have you eaten the second peach? You scoundrel!
Have you eaten the second peach?
Calm down, Yulian.
You think I'm going to be bringing hats to you people...
Really...
Running around shops... Really...
Me, the member of the British Academy...
I don't need a hat, actually. I'm bald.
Grisha! Grisha!
She's alive! He's resurrected her!
She's alive!
In your third set of rules...
among the qualities a YCL member should exercise...
must be a Rule No. 1. You know what it is?
I've written it down.
There are no identical people. It's bourgeois equality.
The very concept of competition removes the concept of equality.
Equality is immobility. Competition is motion.
Take cue from the best, help those who lag behind...
and achieve a general improvement.
The best are our leaders, the architects of socialism.
The best are those who create thoughts, science, technics, music.
The lofty minds, those who wrestle with nature, the conquerors of death.
That's right!
If you want to live - just live!
I'm a professional humanist.
I see too much suffering all around.
Mothers crying over their children...
old people terrified of death.
They told me how you wept.
You see. You're a sailor...
What's your rank? In the old hierarchy?
Admiral.
You see. Admiral...
And you wept like a doe.
Why was I saying that?
You see, the destruction of capital...
does not mean the destruction of unhappiness.
Unhappiness?
Isn't it so?
A human life consists
of an interchanging array of joy and sorrow.
Is that true?
It's true.
Is it?
It is.
A human is only human when he both rejoices and grieves.
Would you find attractive someone who never thinks?
No.
But if someone starts thinking...
it means he is either doubtful of something or hopeful of something.
Will there be people who think in a class-free society?
There will be real people.
When the haze of money is removed from the world...
there is no division into the rich and the poor...
...the suffering regains its purity...
...and becomes a natural part of human life.
That's what I think. And I don't think I'm wrong.
Is that so?
That is so.
Don't get up. Why should you get up?
Why those good manners? Such politeness?
Who are you by birth?
A peasant.
Fantastic.
Well, we'll get up soon.
You can read. Something light, pleasant, uplifting.
I'll send you something. You want Hamsun?
I've got it, thank you. Light and uplifting.
I'll read you the very beginning. The epigraph. Want to hear it?
Okay.
If you love without evoking love in return...
that is, if your loving as loving does not produce reciprocal love...
if through a living expression of yourself as a loving person
you do not make yourself a beloved one...
then your love is impotent - a misfortune.
That's good! Excellent!
About love! Unrequited love!
The most magical compound of happiness and unhappiness.
Will there be unreciprocated love in a class-free society?
There will be.
What did you read from? Was it Hamsun?
See, I've guessed correctly that you loved Hamsun.
It's not Hamsun.
If you love without evoking love in return...
that is, if yoiur loving as loving does not produce reciprocal love...
if through a living expression of yourself as a loving person
you do not make yourself a beloved one...
then your love is impotent - a misfortune.
Karl Marx.
It's fantastic!
You know what it is? A friend sent it. A YCL member.
The third set of requirements.
A set of moral values...
...a YCL member must cultivate.
The first rule applies to you, Dr. Stepanov.
There are no identical people. It's bourgeois equality.
The very concept of competition removes the concept of equality.
Equality is immobility. Competition is motion.
Take cue from the best, help those who lag behind and achieve a general improvement.
The best are our leaders...
The best are those who create thoughts, science, technics, music...
The lofty minds...
Those who wrestle with nature, the conquerors of death.
Who's writing that? A poet?
A friend of mine, a future engineer, a student.
Grisha Fokin.
It's fantastic...
He's coming!
He's coming.
I'm not here. It will be hard to resist.
I don't want any reconciliation!
Hello.
Where's the host? Where's the host of this house?
Where's Grisha? - He's not here.
A shame.
I came to say I'm sorry.
Tell him, please, that he's a remarkable young man.
He says there are many people like him, but he has proven that few are like him.
So I'm ashamed.
Tell him that: Dr. Stepanov is ashamed.
It's very unpleasant, when a grown-up man is ashamed.
Tell him: we're leaving for London and throwing a party.
We would like him to come and visit.
He won't.
Why?
Don't you understand?
I'm saying I'm sorry.
He will come! Don't talk nonsense.
He's dreaming about it. He really loves...
It's okay. It's okay.
He loves Masha? I know.
You told me yourself.
You remember? You were naked.
He won't come. You offended him.
Tell him that Masha asks him to come.
Masha, too?
Such a shame he isn't here.
The hell with it!
You want to open the closet - open it!
I won't come. A YCL member must be proud.
A person is standing in the closet and speaks of pride.
A YCL member must have a sense of humor!
Tell Masha that I won't come.
Sit there, you idiot.
Are you coming back?
Of course.
Grisha.
Wake up.
Grisha!
You know, he's been working all night long.
Grisha! Get up!
No, he won't wake up now.
Grisha!
You can fire a cannon, it's useless.
Grisha.
Fyodor!
What's up?
When Masha was dressing, you stood by her doors!
You rascal!
You dare think of her!
Do you know why she was dressing?
She went to see him!
Yulik, Yulik!
Yulik!
Why did you come?
I shouldn't have?
No.
You're very... strict.
Who's there?
What's the matter?
Why are you standing?
As soon as you sit down to play, people start listening.
I want to suggest an idea to you. May I?
Go on.
To walk some more.
You left? Now that's better.
To play for the lovers! Encounters, separations, farewells!
The whole district falls in love at the sound of my music!
I don't want to.
I want to suggest an idea to you. May I?
Go on.
There's a charming bench, I see. Shall we go and sit there?
There's no one here?
Can I play?
I want to suggest an idea to you.
May I?
Go on.