The State Film Committee of Russia
Nadezhda Productions St.Petersburg
Producer Svetlana Voloshina
with the participation of Lenfilm Studios
Alexander Sokurov CONFESSlON
from the diary of a ship Commander
A cinematographic narrative in five parts
Part Five
The plot and the characters of this film
are creations of the author's imagination.
The Commander could not remember
any particular events
from his first day in the Navy.
From the start, just the usual run of things
and so it had gone on.
It worried him.
It seemed to him a bad omen.
Destiny was sleeping.
His life lacked incident.
Who doesn't have soap?
Give them a bit of soap.
Prokofiev!
- Prokofiev! - Present.
Wash yourself and your clothes,
everything you wear. Understand?
Have you underwear to change into?
You'll put it on to go out. The rest you wash.
Go on, and make it fast.
Undress and wash yourself.
The covered pipe is the hot water,
the plain one is the cold. Good luck!
Galley!
Why is there no water?
There must always be water.
- How come there's no water? - None.
Who said there's no water?
- It should be full. - It's almost full.
It's half empty.
It will be empty in 2 minutes
after the herring they've eaten.
Hurry up, get undressed.
Undress inside.
Anyway, you'll have to wash your clothes.
Wash everything you wear.
Your work uniform, your vests,
your underwear, your socks. Understand?
- The water is cold! - Still cold?
Go on, turn it on.
This way, turn it on more.
Still more!
On full. Go on, go on.
- Is it working? - It will.
The water isn't running. The pipe is cold.
We'll be here hours.
What shall we do?
Why don't you take off your watch?
Wash your armpits thoroughly, and your balls, your cocks...
behind the ears, your heads...
Wash your balls thoroughly.
Prokofiev!
I don't like water!
Shut the door, stop it!
Hurry up the rest of you.
May I keep my letters?
Yes, you can take them to bed with you, you can sleep on them.
They've brought a whole library.
Step on it, honey.
It's time to go to bed,
and have sweet dreams:
of naked women, a beer and a bite to eat.
- I'll keep this, take it later. - OK.
Have you got everything?
The three from the Urals, raise your hands.
- Speciality? - Radar operator.
- Motor-mechanic.
Follow me. The others stay here.
There's a place for radio-telegraphers.
Are you the last one?
- Is this your hat? - Yes.
All right?
The young seamen
who came on ship an hour ago,
did not expect any major events.
They weren't prepared for any.
Later they came to understand
there wouldn't be any.
It would all go on the same way as it started,
taking care of their bodies and clothes.
Still later,
they would see that their commanders don't expect anything either.
Out loud, they curse the monotony
and dream of battle.
But in their hearts,
they are ordinary homely people.
Wake up, it's time to make tea.
Come on, wake up.
Wake up.
He felt pain,
shame,
and bitterness.
He saw that nothing else
was ever going to happen in his life.
He was going to remain the same.
He wouldn't have time to change,
because the life around him wouldn't change
for a very long time.
People don't change.
They don't change
because they cannot, or don't want to.
Then he felt ashamed for his doubts and his depression.
He started to blame himself.
He looked at the young seamen, who had been out in the frosty wind
for 2 days,
trying to thaw out an Arctic settlement.
He realised with disgust that he was grateful to them
for their patience and their submission.
And the Commander at last understood
that it was this sentimental feeling that prevented him
and many others like him,
from one day taking
the most important decision.
Where are the rags?
- Over there. - By the 30th?
Where's the can?
It's over there, 20-30 metres away.
- It's here. - It's here, where are you going?
What are you doing?
It's like stone.
It's frozen, it's as hard as stone.
They should find a welder.
- That's enough, away from there! - I should go away?
They have to cut it off. No one to weld.
They have to find a welder.
Come here, the pipe is warm.
It will take 2 more hours.
One never knows what might explode.
It's barely possible.
Rags - where?
- There are some over there. - By the 30th?
Where's the can?
Over there, 20 metres away.
Where the hell are you going? The can is here!
This is for the hot and the cold water.
There's only cold.
No, he thought,
I cannot keep silent.
I must
constantly, ceaselessly, openly,
honestly, sincerely,
and quite frankly
converse with myself,
he thought.
It is not acceptable to become silent towards myself.
I have to converse with my soul.
Its questions cannot be ignored.
Being an officer, I must be a reasonable person.
To keep my wits lively I have to think,
to think, to think all the time...
And to read thick books written by people of old.
Once upon a time they also looked
on this terrifying beauty,
day after day, without knowing
what the future would hold,
those slaves of the 1930s.
It was they who built the dam
and the old quays.
I am looking at it too,
thought the Commander.
The Commander is turning over the pages of his diary.
Suddenly he takes a decision:
in this diary,
he will not write
another single line.
Early in the morning
he comes out on deck.
It is cold and damp.
The Commander hears a young sentry
walking nearby.
The sentry seems to be delirious.
He's freezing.
He's composing a letter as he walks.
But he only has enough energy
to repeat
the first phrase.
The Commander hears,
"My dear Mother..."
Serguei Bakai The Commander
Camera Alexei Fiodorov
Editor Leda Semionova
Sound Serguei Moshkov
Alexander Sokurov CONFESSlON
from the diary of a ship Commander
The End
Nadezhda 1998
Subtitles: Alexei Jankowsky
Subtitling by TVS - TlTRA FlLM