MOSFILM
Second Artists' Association
VERA ALENTOVA
ALEXEI BATALOV
IRINA MURAVYOVA RAISSA RYAZANOVA
in
MOSCOW DOESN'T BELIEVE IN TEARS
Screenplay by Valentin CHERNYKH
Directed by Vladimir MENSHOV
Director of Photography Igor SLABNEVICH
Production Designer Said MENYALSHCHIKOV
Music by Sergey NIKITIN
Lyrics by D. SUKHAREV
Yu. VIZBOR, Yu. LEVITANSKY
Sound by M. BRONSHTEIN Conductor E. KHACHATURIAN
Moscow. 1958
Workers' Dormitory
- You failed? - I missed by two points.
- Have you checked the list? - I have. I'm not on it.
Don't give up. You'll work and study at night,
and next year you'll make it for sure...
Look who is here!
Don't look so depressed, Katerina.
I'm not depressed.
- Just two points! - I'll make it no matter what.
No one said you wouldn't. After all, 35 is the age limit.
You got plenty of time, believe me.
Couldn't you at least clean up your face?
Kolia'll be here any minute. He's taking me to watch a concert.
To watch a concert! After two years in Moscow you can't talk properly.
- Don't come in! - Come in, please!
- Hi!.. - Good evening.
- You're not well? - You made me blush all over.
I'm sorry.
- Want to have a look? - No, thanks.
Kolia! I'll be ready in a second!
Why d'you have to frighten him? You know, he's so shy.
Yeah, you wouldn't call him an intellectual.
You could have found a dunce like him at home in your village.
What were you so scared of? It was a strawberry beauty mask.
Don't forget, the doors are locked after twelve.
We'll be back in time. We're going to watch a concert.
To watch a concert! And you call yourself a Muscovite!
Women's dormitory.
Which Ludmilla? There're Ludmillas by the dozens here.
Oh, that Ludmilla...
Just a minute. She's taking a bath right now.
Sviridova, telephone for you!
She'll be right with you. She's in the middle of drying off.
I said you were taking a bath.
Vadik? Of course, I remember.
What dormitory? Oh, that's our granny. She's a great joker.
Some cousins came to visit
and now she's complaining that our place is like a dormitory.
Everyone wants to come to Moscow, but we can't live like sardines.
Today? No, I can't. It's daddy's birthday.
Tomorrow? I'd better call you back. I'll be in class all day.
- Dormitory! - What else should I say?
- Why don't you just say "hello"? - Hello? How was I supposed to know?
Fate flies like a rocket in one huge parabola,
Sometimes along a rainbow, but mostly in the pitch-dark cupola.
There lived a red-headed artist, well-known as Gauguin.
A Bohemian, though he started as a two-bit salesman.
To end up in the Louvre, originating in Montmartre,
He made a detour via Java and Sumatra.
He rocketed, forgetting the madness of money...
What's he trying to say?
After five years of slaving, buried in textbooks,
you're supposed to go in a factory? What kind of life is that?
What kind of life do you want?
Stop necking on the street. You're in a public place.
This chemistry of yours is so boring. Nothing but formulas.
You don't understand. Chemistry's the future of mankind.
You should be thinking more about your present.
- Hey, girls, what about... - Get lost, will you.
Why did you do that? They look nice to me.
That's right, just nice. In Moscow on a quota, just like us.
To love no less than a queen, to lose no less than a million.
French Film Festival
Ever seen a mink like that?
I love her! It's Koniukhova!
That's what I call life!
Look! Youmatov!
Why are you out here?
Nina was supposed to bring me an invitation...
Wait. I'll try to get you in.
- Are you an actor too? - Yeah, just a beginner though.
- A bit late to be getting started. - What's your name?
You probably never heard of me.
- Tell me anyway. - Smoktunovsky.
Oh! Kharitonov!
- You fixed it all by yourself? - Can't wait all day for the adjusters.
Their work load's too big, you know.
Pretty good. pretty good.
Tossia, mother wants you to come to our country place
on Sunday.
Why don't you say something?
- I'm not sure if I should. - Why not?
Can't you see she's scared?
- Scared of what? - Just scared.
In that case, why don't you ask your roommates to come with you?
The fresh air will do them some good.
Sviridova, when are you going to pay your union dues?
Do you know how much you owe us?
Look, why don't you leave her alone?
Stop playing the tough guy.
Sviridova, stop wrecking my nervous system.
Do I have to get down on my knees?
Oh, I'm really beat today.
- Liuda, are you coming? - In a second.
- Ludmilla, aren't you ready yet? - Ready.
Isn't she just beautiful?
- Ludmilla, where are you going? - I'm in a hurry.
Where's she off to?
She never goes with us.
- What are you reading? - A book.
- Is it interesting? - Very.
What's the title of it?
"The Three Comrades". Never heard of it.
Really? Everyone in Moscow's reading it.
- You're not a Muscovite, huh? - I am, almost.
Hello! Women's dormitory.
For whom? Ludmilla?
Who? Rudolph?
From the television, of course, I remember.
Oh, that's just grandma kidding. We've got houseguests from Riga,
so she's calling our apartment a dormitory.
No, we're spending the weekend in the country.
- What road we're taking? - The first we find.
I wouldn't know that. Our chauffeur takes us there.
I really have to run now, my dad is waiting.
You're such a liar!
Stop teaching me how to live my life.
You know, you're quite a catch. A car, a place in the country...
If I had gotten to you first...
You're not my type.
As for the place in the country, it's not much more than a cabin.
Oh yeah? That doesn't suit us. Turn around!
Stop frightening her. Can't you see how worried she is?
There's nothing to be scared of. You don't have to marry him at all.
Why talk about marriage? You're just guests for the weekend.
Come on.
My parents.
Ludmilla.
And Katerina. This is Tossia.
How are you?
In '33 she came to our factory.
And she had only one suitcase, that was all.
Mother, please, don't butt in.
I'm barely making 850 rubles now.
We'll help you get by.
In two months I'll be at the sixth level.
Out of the way!
This is the black currant bush I planted last year.
These are strawberries, over there, gooseberries.
Here we'll have an apple tree.
Why don't you grow cabbages over there, to have it all year round?
You're right, we'll do it.
- This is great... - What's so great?
I take one look at all this and it depresses me.
I'd kill myself rather than live here.
Everything's decided in advance. You save up to buy a TV set,
after that it's a washing machine, then a refrigerator.
You've got a twenty-year plan like the government.
- What's so bad about it? - What's good living like that?
Don't you understand that we live in Moscow?
And Moscow's one big lottery, you can hit the jackpot.
Moscow is full of diplomats, artists, actors and poets.
Practically they're all men.
And we're women.
What do they need us for? They have their own women.
But we're no worse than the others.
Where can we find those artists?
That's the point. We have to find them.
Leave it to me.
Galia, get up! You told me to wake you up at nine.
Girls, strip your beds today!
- What happened to the hot water? - They turned it off.
Still sleeping? You're going to sleep your life away.
It's Sunday. Why are you bothering me so early?
- Where's Antonina? - Went to the country with Kolia.
She's got bogged down in the bourgeois mire. Where're you going?
I'm going to visit some relatives. They sent me a card.
What relatives?
- Uncle Lyosha. - Who's that?
He's a professor. He's my mother's cousin.
I stayed at their place for a week when I first came to Moscow.
Oh yeah, I remember now.
- Where are you going after that? - To the Tretiakov Gallery.
After all I taught you about how to get a man and you go there.
The only kind of men you're going to find there are tourists.
I go to see the paintings, not the men.
Well, I'm going to visit the Lenin Library's biology department today.
Imagine the clientele it's got. The kind of men there.
Doctors, academicians, philosophers.
Are you going to spend your morning watching them read?
No, I'll hang around the smoking section.
Hello, Maria. I have a surprise for you.
I managed to dig up two tickets to the Van Cliburn concert.
Tonight at the Sports Palace.
Try to get out early today. I'll meet you at the subway station.
Thanks.
All those guys are not serious people.
Imagine, to a distinguished man, with a degree in something or other,
I babble something half intelligent
and I can have him eating out of my hand.
- Want to come with me tomorrow? - I can't, I'm moving out.
Uncle Lyosha is going South. He asked me to look after their place.
- I couldn't say no. - You'd be crazy to say no!
- Where does he live? - Revolution Square.
In one of those skyscrapers? I'm moving in with you.
Good morning. The Tikhomirovs.
No, wait! Hold it!
Now, here's where I keep the beans. The sugar's there, too.
Don't worry about a thing, Aunt Rita.
Well then, make yourself at home.
Tchapochka, my baby, you're going to miss me, aren't you?
Only half an hour left and the car isn't here yet. I'm so nervous.
Don't get so upset. The car is waiting downstairs.
It's all Bogomolov's fault, with his damned theory.
I had to get up on the podium and argue with him for hours on end.
Katia, how are you? Any news from your mother?
Everything is all right.
Pleased to meet you. Tikhomirov. Sit down. It brings good luck.
I was able to arrange for the medicine.
Write to your mother that I'll send it to her as soon as I'm back.
- What are you crying about? - Tchapochka's so sad.
- Come on, girls, hurry up! - We're coming.
Water the flowers twice a week,
put the mail on the desk.
Tchapochka's got to be walked at 5 in the morning and after supper.
You forgot to give me Tchapochka!
May Ludmilla stay with me?
- Is she neat? - Very neat!
Alright then, she can stay.
May I speak to Ghena? Is that you? I didn't recognize your voice.
Look, they changed my telephone number. Write it down.
Say hello to Tchapa, guys.
You wrote down my address? All right, Sergey, ciao!
Here, hold him.
We're having guests tomorrow evening.
- Here? - No, in our dormitory.
I already got in touch with a scientist,
an athlete, a television man, a poet and a couple of engineers.
- They accepted? - They'll be here before you know.
One thing you have to agree to.
We're the daughters of Professor Tikhomirov.
I'm a medical student specializing in psychiatry,
and you're studying chemistry and industrial technology.
Men prefer women in the intellectual professions.
For example, a doctor. Her hands are clean, she wears a white blouse.
Or a music teacher. It's very romantic, and earns a good living.
Of course, interior decorating is a chic profession.
The only trouble is that it's hard to fake.
Can you fake a psychiatrist?
I wasn't a nurse's aid in a loony bin just for nothing.
The stories I can tell them will make them crazy.
- The point is to impress them. - They're bound to find out about us.
I know what to do. I'll have a fight with Dad and move in with my hubby.
Then I'll go to work every day, and he'll think I'm still a student.
That goes on for a year, then I'll get pregnant and become a housewife.
And even if he does find out, it'll be too late.
He will have gotten used to me, and he'll adore his kid.
He'll probably even beg me to forgive him.
Why would he do that?
Well, I'll find a reason when I have to. So you'll do it?
We'd never get away with it.
Oh, Katia, do it for me, please.
No, I don't like it.
Then I'll tell them that you're my maid.
What a bore you are.
Take a chance for once in your life.
I don't even look like a professor's daughter.
All we have to do for it to work is avoid making two mistakes.
One is lousy grammar, and the other is asking dumb questions.
What if they ask me a question and I give a dumb answer?
Do it, but like you mean it. That's called "point of view".
- Take me, I'm pretty vulgar, right? - You said it, I didn't.
Well, guys call it eccentric. So will you do it?
No! I just don't believe you can act like something you're not.
Pleased to meet you.
- Katia. - Anton.
And what's your last name?
You can call me just Anton. The last name is for my office.
Please, come right in.
Put these in some water.
Gentlemen, I think you can make your own introductions.
Kruglov, industrial executive.
Seryozha.
Perov. I'm a scientist.
Edward Ozeryansky, research engineer.
Kruglov, industrial executive.
The one with the badge is a scientist.
- What science? - Just science.
- Oh, you shouldn't have... - That's my contribution.
- It wasn't necessary. - Go ahead, let's have a look.
Oh, pardon me!
Could you take all this in the other room?
I'm sorry, I was delayed at the studio.
I understand. Meet my little sister.
It's a pleasure.
- Katia. - Rudolph.
I don't agree. Poetry is definitely on the rise.
There are interesting young poets. Yevtushenko, for example.
Who?
You don't know him? He shows a lot of promise.
Although in my opinion, Robert is more daring.
Rozhdestvensky. You've heard of him, haven't you?
He's fabulously talented. A young rebel.
There're too many rebels now. They criticize the older generation.
They want to know why we kept silent for so long.
I wonder what they would have done in our place.
We would have spoken up.
Seryozha, you haven't touched your wine.
- I'm not allowed. - Poor health?
No. The coach won't allow me to. Cause I'm in training.
You are Gourin, aren't you?
Yes, Gourin.
I thought you looked familiar.
I used to broadcast the games you played.
We should be honored to be at the same table as Gourin.
Don't be so modest. I read what the Swedish press wrote about you.
- You play for Moscow now? - That's right.
I think we should all drink a toast to the great hockey player Gourin.
Just one glass toasting yourself.
No. Thank you for your kind words,
but really I'm in training, and I don't like the stuff anyway.
- Have you been long at the TV? - Two years now.
- It must be very interesting! - Yes, very.
Someday television will change our lives.
We'll never go to the movies, and theatre and literature will die.
We'll only be interested in television.
Don't you think you're getting carried away?
Theatre, I agree, isn't going to last long, but really, movies, books...
Just wait twenty years and you'll see.
Well, in twenty years everything will be completely changed.
It isn't all that much, twenty years.
In twenty years I'll be old.
Believe me, at forty you'll think
that your life just begins.
At forty? You're joking!
If God really created us all, he should be generous
and give us at least a thimbleful of hope.
Where did you graduate from?
We don't have any special school for television yet.
Seryozha, you're like a bear.
Well, what do you think of Sweden?
We just looked out a bus window.
We're still at the beginning of TV, but it already represents the future.
- Have you been to a studio? - No, I've never been there.
- Want to visit? - Oh yes, can l?
I can arrange it.
Washington says we're a bust, Treats us just like old dust.
But in space we're the first. With green envy they can burst.
An old house on the block Was dynamited at one o'clock.
And instead the new one fell, The old one is holding well.
An old man in a restaurant Ate a very, very lot.
Now his rent is paid well for, It's a cemetery plot.
Oh look! It's Katerina! That's her all right!
She really looks pretty, doesn't she?
It's funny, but for sisters you're not much alike.
- You mean I'm not pretty? - It's not that...
You're so different.
A loving son to his dear dad Gave a lottery ticket.
Father won a car, no buts, And the son is going nuts.
Don't do that again, and I mean it, Seryozha.
Why not?
You're famous, and girls just throw themselves at you.
- I'm not that kind of girl. - Who cares if I'm famous.
My coach also says that I'm not like everybody else.
And I've only had one girlfriend in my entire life.
So you've got one...
It was when I was still in school.
Don't do that. It might make no difference to you,
but I'm the kind who takes it seriously.
So am I.
Vitya, will you stop pounding, please.
That's Rudy when he was one year old. And that's his father.
Our place is small, isn't it?
- I think your apartment's lovely. - You're just being nice.
Rudy told me about your apartment. It seems it's gorgeous.
Yes, it's not bad.
Vitya, stop pounding the piano!
And here we all are on vacation.
Your family must go to the Crimea, right?
The Crimea's cold this year, isn't it?
Cold? Somewhat, yes... Not really cold I mean.
- But it isn't summer either. - Right.
Mother, you haven't stopped talking to Katia. Please, dinner is ready.
- Vitya, sit down. - Vitya, sit there, will you?
Would you like some salad? And cold tongue with a cream sauce.
- You want some champagne, mom? - Yes, please.
Vitya, we bought some soda for you.
Well then, as they say, here's to friendship!
And who knows where friendship will lead you.
Vitya, don't eat like a pig. Use the knife you're supposed to.
I forgot, which one?
Oh, we went through that this morning. What will our guest think?
- Let me offer you some sturgeon. - No!
I'm allergic to sturgeon.
- It gives me cramps. - Oh! You don't say!
And besides, I already ate a big meal today. I really can't eat.
Good you're here. You can give me a hand.
We've just got a telegram. Our hosts will be here the day after tomorrow.
That's what I call being polite. They warn you in advance.
- What are we going to do? - I've got everything worked out.
Seryozha, good that you've called.
Yes, sure I'll see you tonight. It's something else.
They're going to cut off my phone.
They said it's because of the government's needs.
From now on I'll be calling you. See you tonight then.
That's it, I'm fed up with this endless lying.
When Rudy comes here tomorrow, I'm going to tell him.
Don't even think of it! If you do, Seryozha will find out.
Well, I don't care about that!
No, Katia, you'll ruin everything.
This champagne is so heady.
The aristocrats used to drink it.
- To you. - And to you.
- Shall we dance? - All right.
The light hurts my eyes.
No, don't, Rudy! Please don't...
- Goodbye. - So you're moving out, Katia?
- And who's going to walk Tchapa? - Aunt Rita.
We'll be back here someday.
Rudy said that in the West
they celebrate special events in restaurants.
They have all gone crazy over there.
What kind of food can you get in a restaurant?
You got to have a television.
Absolutely. When the furniture's paid up we're going to buy a TV set.
Tonia, you'd better start with the television set.
Because the television is the future of mankind.
I just love your dill pickles. I can't stop eating them.
That's Misha who makes them.
I never knew that you liked dill pickles.
I do now.
Are you trying to tell us something? Tell me how it happened.
- I don't know what you mean. - I mean are you pregnant?
- Yes. - When did it happen?
- While we were living there. - That was three months ago!
- Does he know? - No.
- Why didn't you tell him? - Because he'd learn the other lies.
I've gotten myself into trouble, that's all.
First you have to make him marry you, then you tell him everything.
If he loves you, he'll forgive you.
No, a lie is no way to start a family.
I hate to do it.
Kiss the bride!
Leave me alone.
And may you have a happy and long life and many children! A kiss!
We have to do something, girls.
Mikhalych has been asking for you. He says it's important.
This girl has a promising future. She's as good as any engineer.
The kerchief must go. Would you mind walking a little?
The lady's a director. You're going to be on television.
But I can't. There's too much work to do on the fourth shift.
I think she'll do very nicely.
Would you mind saying a few words?
I don't know what to say.
I've written down the answers
to the questions that Liudochka here will be asking.
- Please learn your lines. - Get ready.
Are you sick?
Yes, I'm sick. I can't go through with this.
Stop this nonsense. The whole country will be watching,
people will be writing to you.
You take this tool and start working.
Rudy, are you ready to begin?
Let's get going!
Katia Tikhomirova is the only girl at this factory
who is working as a mechanic.
Have a look at the complex machine that Katia has started to work on.
Katia can solve any problem here, isn't that right?
Well, I think I can.
You were hired as an operator, weren't you?
But you wanted to do more creative work, right?
Is that why you decided to be a mechanic?
Not really. It just happened.
I was asked to become a mechanic by Mikhalych...
Excuse me, I mean Comrade Lednev.
He's our foreman and a very good man.
He asked me, and I agreed.
It's rare that anyone accepts though, the pay is so bad.
- What are you talking about? - The quotas should be reviewed.
We simply have to reevaluate qualified labor throughout the plant.
You probably want to continue your education
and return to this factory as an engineer?
I was hoping to enter a college last year, but I failed the exams.
I hope to do better this year.
But I'll come back to work here only if I fail again.
I want to be a chemistry major.
Good luck to you, Katia. And thank you very much.
Is that all? Here.
Hi! lnteresting coincidence, finding you in a place like this.
Yes, very interesting.
I see you're a model worker.
Are you disappointed?
No, not at all. Actually, I'm delighted.
Well, I've got to go.
You shouldn't stay in bed all the time. Why don't you go for a walk?
You know, I told Seryozha the whole truth today.
- And what did he say? - He said he was relieved.
He was afraid that a professor wouldn't let his daughter marry him.
In fact, we got a marriage license today.
Congratulations.
Katia, forgive me. I was the one who asked you to lie.
Now I'm engaged, but you...
What happened was my own responsibility.
No, there's someone else who is to blame for this.
That's just great! What do you expect me to do?
I went to the hospital, but the doctors say it's too late.
Maybe your mother would know someone who could...
No, I won't let you get my mother involved in this.
Hey, what are you doing? Can't you just play the game?
- What am I going to do? - You should've been more careful.
You too.
Look, don't try to make me the villain.
I feel like we're personages from some melodrama.
He's a jerk, she's a saint.
Only in our case, you're the one who lied to me!
Well, no use crying over spilt milk.
We can still be friends though.
All right. I think you're right. It's my fault, I deserved it.
I'm only asking you to help me find a doctor.
How am I supposed to find one?
This is a thing for women.
What do I know about it?
Why don't you ask at the factory? Go to the clinic there.
They're supposed to take care of the health of their workers.
Anyway, we have the finest medical care in the world.
I'm going to be late at the studio.
Come on, stop crying. Everything will work out.
I'll keep in touch, all right?
I'll be going now.
Goodbye.
May I come in?
So this is where Professor Tikhomirov's daughter lives?
- How are you? - I'm fine, thank you.
- May I sit down? - Please do.
I had a long serious conversation with Rudy.
He never really loved you. He was only infatuated.
He was very disappointed
by your schemes with professorial apartments.
I came to ask you to stop calling us.
We've had enough of your blackmail.
I never called you.
You must have asked one of your friends to phone for you.
I never asked my friends to, either.
All right, I've been calling you up!
And I'm also going to write to your son's boss.
He should me made to do his duty!
Oh, you must be the specialist in psychiatry
who earns her living working in a bakery?
- Yes, I do. So what? - Then stay in your bakery.
And in your dormitory.
I had lived in a communal apartment, too.
- Times have changed. - Some things never change.
There are already four of us in two rooms,
and now you want to move in, you and your child.
I never wanted that!
I will never ask you for anything, I promise!
That's the only thing I can do for you. Here...
Thanks. I can earn my living.
As you wish.
Why should you raise your child on your own?
There won't be any child.
Don't just stand there, young father. Come and kiss your daughter.
What are you waiting for? Go on!
- Congratulations. - Thank you.
You should take the baby to the country this summer.
Goodbye.
You should've asked someone else to pretend to be the father.
Soon Tonia's going in here. They'll think I have a harem.
Don't worry about that for now. Let's celebrate the birth of this one!
Oh, she's so lovely! Look at the little darling!
She looks just like you. Especially her eyes and nose.
What are you going to name her?
Alexandra, after my father.
Come to the table, everybody! The food's ready.
Katia, put your girl to sleep and let's eat.
She's fast asleep already. Come on.
Did you see the TV set?
- What's that? - My parents sent it over.
You'll be in this room, you and your baby.
We're not going to wait for Seryozha.
What do you mean, let's not wait for Seryozha?
You got it after all!
The store manager went to the warehouse himself. He's a hockey fan.
In six months you can pass it over to Tonia.
- And then it'll be Ludmilla's turn. - No, we're in no rush.
I haven't seen the baby yet. Oh, but she looks like you!
The spitting image of you!
It's amazing the way she looks like her mother!
- No, no, I'm not allowed to. - You have to drink to the baby.
But I'm in training. And you know that I've never liked the stuff.
Just this once. It's for the baby.
All right, I give up. I'm tired of fighting you.
To Alexandra... What's her patronymic?
Alexandrovna.
To the newest Muscovite in town! To Alexandra Tikhomirova!
End of Part One
Alexandra! Time to get up!
- When will you be back? - I'm working late today.
- May I invite my girlfriends over? - And your boyfriends too.
I know. The meat's in the freezer.
There's canned soup in the closet, and applesauce for dessert.
- I'll wash the dishes. - Good girl. Goodbye.
Smoking again before breakfast?
I told you not to do that. Sit down and eat.
Take some bread. Don't rush.
Liuda, I promise you, it's the last time.
I'll pay you back when I receive my check. Please, another 5 rubles...
Do you want me to wipe your nose too?
You don't believe me? I can show you my bank book.
Where do you expect me to get money? It doesn't grow on trees.
D'you think I like coming here? It's because of my condition.
Your condition is called hangover.
It's no problem for me to give up drinking!
I've been invited to be a coach next year.
I'm going to be late, get out!
You're a bitch! What about everything I bought you, have you forgotten?
You drank up everything you bought!
It was my money, I had the right to drink!
I don't want to see you again!
We were divorced seven years ago!
Couldn't you just lend me two or three rubles?
I really need it!
There! Take whatever I have. I'm leaving me just 10 kopecks for bus.
You're an angel, Liuda. I swear, I'll pay you back!