MOSFILM
With financial support from Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation
and Commercial Bank "DERJAVA".
CINEMA STUDIO "KOURIER"
ALEKSEI VERTKOV
VITALIY KISHCHENKO
and
VALERIY GRISHKO KARL KRANZKOWSKI
CHRISTIAN REDL
- Look. Who is this? - The uniform does not look German.
- Must be Romanians or Italians. - The Huns.
- Who? - The Huns, meaning the Hungarians.
- To each beast his own mate. - What's he got there?
in the film of KAREN SHAKHNAZAROV
WHITE TIGER
Based on the novel by Iliya Boyashov "The Tankman".
music by RICHARD WAGNER
Where are the legs?
Go look over there.
Shut it down!
What's going on over there?
Comrade Captain, they will not let go.
- What does not let go? - The hands.
- What hands? - The driver's.
The driver's?
- I think he is alive, Peter. - That's right. He is alive.
Stop!
- What's up? - Take him to the hospital.
- The dead one? - He is alive.
- Dead or alive, what do you care? - Load him on.
- Where do we take this one? - Into the woods.
You did not even look at him.
- He has a pulse. - Get him in the tent.
Put him here.
I've never seen anything like this.
90% of body burned, but he is still alive.
He won't live for even 2 hours.
Give me the ointment!
- Hello. - Hello.
Where is the tankman?
- How long is he with us? - Three weeks.
90% burns, sepsis, but he is still alive.
Take him to be rebandaged.
- Where is the burn? - Some strange pathology.
Only three days ago there was not a single piece of healthy skin on him.
What is your name, soldier?
First last name?
- Your unit number? - I do not know.
- May I? - Yes, sit down.
Ivan Ivanovich Naydenov. Year of birth 1914.
- Russian, not a member of Communist Party, tank driver. - Wait a minute...
You said he had no documents and cannot remember anything.
From an accompanying letter from the field hospital.
It said "unknown tank driver".
And how did you find out his name?
We all just started calling him Ivan Ivanovich.
We decided that his last name should be Naydenov (the one found)
because the accompanying letter stated that he was "found in a tank."
What about the year of birth and party membership?
His teeth look about 30 years old.
Party membership - safe guess.
There is some mistake here.
Are these really his documents?
- They are his. - It's written here 90% burn.
That is correct. He had burns on about 90%
- of the surface of his body. - Is that a joke?
- Where are the burns? - You see, we are not able
to explain this fully, but the patient recovered completely.
Obviously this is due to some amazing properties of his body
and no doubt this is a miraculous phenomenon.
So, what do we do with this phenomenon?
He possesses a rare case of retrograde amnesia.
He remembers all his habits, remembers... the alphabet
can write, but can not remember who he is,
where he is from, who are his family, and what happened to him.
I believe he is not fit for military service.
A tank driver? Don't you know the orders of Supreme Command?
- I know. - Tank drivers discharged from hospitals
are always to be reenlisted in tank units.
I know, but this is a special case. The soldier has no memory.
One doesn't need much memory to load a tank cannon.
Hey, soldier! Come here!
- Who are you? - Sergeant Naydenov.
Mechanic-driver with the 2nd company.
And what are you doing here?
This tank was shot by a Panther.
It ambushed him.
- Why do you think so? - He told me about it.
- Who told you? - The tank.
This tank.
Did this tank tell you anything?
A Tiger burned him.
The same one that burned my tank... The White Tiger.
Soldier, back to your unit. At the double.
Yes, sir.
- Do you know him? - I do.
He is a very good mechanic. Only ever since he came back from the hospital
- something has been wrong with his memory. - God knows who gets sent to the front nowadays.
He should be in a mental institution, and they send him to the front. Give me a cigarette!
Listen, Nikolay, I have heard about the White Tiger too.
- They say it is some sort of ghost. - Nonsense!
Quit listening to all sorts of nonsense!
Stop! There are legends circulating in our army about this tank.
Continue.
At the battle of Babruysk we were attacked by Russian tanks.
There were over 20 of them.
It seemed they will destroy everything in their path.
Suddenly a tank appeared from the side. A Tiger tank, painted white.
A T-6 tank.
He began to destroy the Russian tanks.
In 10 minutes he destroyed all Russian tanks and then disappeared.
It looked as though he vanished into thin air.
Did you personally see it?
He himself did not see it. He was told about this battle by a friend
who participated in it.
You cannot defeat this white devil.
Why is that?
Because he is the triumph of the German spirit.
Sharipov, wait for me here.
He was first seen in Polesia.
All Tigers would get stuck in swamps, and he did not.
He would destroy entire tank battalions.
Then he appeared in the north. Then in the south.
Every time he would appear in our rear. He would destroy
about 15 of our tanks and locomotives and disappear into the woods.
How is this possible?
15 of our tanks can not destroy one Nazi tank?
Allow me, Georgi Konstantinovich.
This is not a standard production tank. I will state general opinion...
Germans have only one such tank.
If high-explosive shells cannot penetrate
his armor is at least 250 mm.
But then he should weigh about 100 tons.
The most powerful German tank engine
- is only 700 horsepower. - What do you suggest?
Let's do what the Germans did. Create one special tank
based on the T-34-85 model. Not install the stabilizer
allowing it to shoot moving targets.
Bolster the armor and put an amplifier on the engine.
- How long? - A month.
In that case, two weeks.
General Smirnov, I order you in charge of
finding and destroying the enemy tank.
Let's call him the "White Tiger."
Take the new T-34 and assemble a crew.
- Yes, sir, Comrade Marshall. - Who will work on this?
Deputy Chief of Army Counterintelligence
Major Fedotov.
- Choose the very best, Major. - Yes, sir, Comrade Marshal.
- Ivan Ivanovich Naydenov. - Yes, sir.
How do you feel? Recently out of the hospital?
Normal.
He heals as quickly as a dog.
He got 95% body burn, it all healed.
Got shot in the leg, didn't even need to leave the battlefield.
He was walking on the 3rd days. You are somehow very special, Naydenov.
- Hard to kill. - Probably, yes.
Still cannot remember anything?
First name, last name, where are you from?
No, I don't remember anything.
Your entire battalion was killed.
We tried to find out your real name, but...
- Do you want to know it? - No. Not really.
So I was a Petrov or Stepanov, now I became a Naydenov.
I remember that I am Russian, a tank driver. What else do I need to know?
But your family? You may have had a mother, a father.
Maybe a wife, children.
If I had them, they should have already received notice of my death.
The dead should not come back.
The dead should not be with the living.
I remember how he shot at me.
The missile flew slowly and directly at me.
I saw it. It was slowly approaching.
I wanted to move. Take the tank to the left or back.
But I could not... I could not move a single hand.
- You saw him? - Yes, I saw him.
The White Tiger. He burned every single one of us.
What is he like, Naydenov?
He is dead, Comrade Major.
What do you mean dead? What are you talking about?
What is the tank like? Its cannon, size, armor?
Well, the tank... is just a tank.
Maybe a little bigger than others, but dead.
There are always people sitting in the tanks.
They are Nazis, of course, but still people.
We know that there are people in there.
People may get frightened or miss
or, if they are very brave, gamble with their lives.
But this one is dead.
He will never be afraid or miss.
He will always do everything right, without errors.
Yeah, everything right.
There is no escape.
I was told you are the best tank driver in the army.
I will request that you be awarded the rank of Junior Lieutenant
and appointed commander of the experimental tank T-34-85.
It is not a standard production machine.
It has increased armor protection and an extra powerful engine.
The crew consists of 3 members: a gunner, loader and you.
The mission...
Find and destroy the tank White Tiger.
Tank commander, Junior Lieutenant Naydenov.
Sergeant Kryuk, the best gunner.
Starshina Berdyev, loader. Can load a cannon in 15 seconds
and is not affected by gasses that accumulate in the dome after shooting.
- Did you select the crew? - Yes, sir.
- And these are the best of the best? - The very best.
- Why? - Something about their faces... is weird.
- What is weird? - Well...
- Just weird. - But they sit in a tank
not dance on stage of Bolshoi Theater. Tank commander and gunner, come here!
Do you see a barn?
- Yes, sir. - How far away is it?
- 600 meters. -Really? 600?
- 640. - Okay.
Destroy the barn with a maximum of two shots.
- Yes, sir. - Take your places.
Yesterday he appeared in the rear. Right here.
How he got here through the swamp is not clear.
But it is a fact.
He appeared, burned five tanks and four locomotives, and disappeared.
If you want, you can examine the place, where this happened.
He shot them from those woods over there.
Just beyond that forest is a swamp bog.
- A tank could not pass there. - But he did. He is here.
- Where? - Somewhere in the woods here. He is hiding.
He is not there. Yesterday we searched the entire forest.
Combed through every meter.
He is there.
- What do you suggest? - I will ambush him.
But I will need at least one other tank.
Preferably a T-34.
How do you know that he is there? How?
He is there. I will burn him, Comrade Major.
Give me another tank.
Sharipov!
Go to Kutaisov's Brigade.
You will give this to the commander. I'll stay here.
Comrade Major...
Alexey, don't you get a feeling that he...
- Who? - This Naydenov.
- Is nuts! - Enough, Sharipov!
Execute the order!
Give me some more.
At your disposal, Sergeant Slepov.
Naydenov! Here is your commander Junior Lieutenant Naydenov.
Listen, stand over there in that grove.
When he appears, try to distract him with fire and movement.
- Understood. - Execute.
Yes, sir.
Hey, Sergeant!
Keep the lids on the dome opened. Do not close completely.
- Major is coming. - At ease.
- Have some, Comrade Major. - Thanks, I am not hungry.
Have some. There's enough for all.
- What about the commander? - He seems not to eat.
- What do you mean he doesn't eat? - He'll only chew on some bread...
Wish I could run away from him. I really do.
Is he bewitched or something? Shells do not hit him.
Maybe with someone like that Berdyev and I will survive until the very end.
What do you think?
Will you have some alcohol, Comrade Major?
We, tankmen, usually do not drink before battle.
We should not. How many guys burned down just because of alcohol!
But to Berdyev it is nothing.
He is a loader and a drunkard. Right, Berdyev?
- Do you think he will come? - He will.
He is looking for me.
Slepov!
You missed, Kryuk!
Once he destroys your T-34, we are finished.
Listen to my command! We are going to move back.
Then we'll come from the right side. Shoot him just beneath the dome.
- Is that clear? - Yes, sir.
Let's go!
Shoot, Kryuk! Shoot!
- He's not there! - What? Shoot!
I do not see him!
- Kryuk, get out! - Where?
Look around outside. Assess the situation.
Yes, sir.
Commander, he is not anywhere.
Not there at all. He's gone.
No, Kryuk. He is not gone.
He is behind us.
How could he have missed?
From such a distance. And from the back.
He could have turned us to porridge. No one would even find our helmets.
All right. Bring the instructions and 27-32.
Are you injured?
Where is he?
How was he able to get behind you?
- You think I got scared? - No, Naydenov.
I do not think you got scared.
If I thought so, I would have executed you.
It's just that he outwitted you. Slepov died in vain.
You had reported to me that the German "miracle tank"
was destroyed by our experimental tank.
Yes, sir. I reported that.
In that case, why still no confirmation of awarding the crew with military honors
for their accomplishment?
Only one person was witness to this battle...
Deputy Chief of Army Counterintelligence Fedotov.
He did not see the destruction of the Tiger itself.
He saw how our tank hit it twice,
- then it disappeared. - What does it mean, disappeared?
The battle took place at the edge Karnilovskiy forest.
Beyond it is swampland all around. The Tiger seems to have sunk in it.
Seems? So he may not have sunk?
After the battle, this Tiger has not been seen anywhere.
Here are his tracks.
Here he was going backwards.
The tracks end here.
- And how is one to understand this? - Assuming that
he passed through the swamp. It is unclear how, but he passed.
In that case, on the other side
his tracks would continue, but they do not.
Soldiers have searched every inch out there.
No, Alexey. He sank.
We cannot pull him out from swamp waters, but he is there.
Naydenov keeps saying the contrary. That he got away.
Naydenov has gone nuts.
Listen, Alexey. This happens, you know it.
In this war many people have lost theirs minds. Many more will lose it yet.
Do you know he is praying to God?
- To who? - His Tank God.
For him there is a Tank God.
Hello!
- What wind brings you here? - Fair wind. How are you?
- Not bad. - Where can I find Naydenov?
See his tank.
Sergeant Kryuk.
Kryuk, if you bring a woman into the tank one more time
- I will personally kill you on the spot. Clear? - Yes, sir.
Stop!
What is this, Berdyev?
Starshina Berdyev, I am asking what you have in there?
It's German schnapps, Comrade Captain.
He found it yesterday in the basement of a neighboring village.
- Two barrels. - Berdyev, were you not warned
that Germans purposefully leave behind poisoned schnapps?
To inflict losses in our manpower.
Is it tasty?
Kryuk where is Naydenov?
- With the tanks. - With what tanks?
The damaged ones. Not far from here.
This one is ours. Burned in 1941.
Naydenov!
Naydenov, get up! A senior officer is addressing you.
Leave it, Captain!
Naydenov.
White Tiger.
- What about the White Tiger? - He did not sink. He is there.
- Did he fly over the marshes? - Wait, Sharipov.
- Why do you think that he did not sink? - He left. To prepare.
- He is waiting. - For what?
- What is he waiting for? - When we begin the offensive.
- Did the Tank God tell you that? - Yes.
And this God, where is he?
In the sky. In the clouds.
He has a throne. And he sits on it.
Around him are all the tanks who were killed in battle.
What does he look like? This God?
He is in overalls, in tank helmet...
He has a T-34... Gold.
When he sits inside it there is thunder and lightning.
You see?
- He helps you in battle? - He does.
I can hear tanks. All tanks speak.
Only no one else hears them, but I do.
They warn me when shells are fired,
so I can get away in time. That's how they help me.
They want me to live. They want me to...
burn the White Tiger.
To take revenge.
- I told you he was crazy! - You did.
- Do you understand now? - I understand.
This team should be disbanded.
Naydenov should be sent to hospital for treatment.
Kryuk and Berdyev placed in other teams. They've gotten completely out of hand.
Why are you silent?
- What do you think, Alexey? - I don't think anything. Go!
Yes, I served at the headquarters of Inspector General
of German armored tank groups.
How did you get captured?
I was sent to accompany a group of experts
from the Ministry of Weapons and Ammunition.
I was captured by your scouts.
What can you tell us about the tank White Tiger?
All around there are legends about this tank.
In Wehrmacht it is cause for more fear than hope.
But, believe me, during all my time at HQ
I have never come across a single document
that would at least indirectly be connected with this White Tiger.
Maybe it has been created? And serves Hitler personally?
No, this is impossible.
I am absolutely sure that such a tank does not exist.
Now what do you think?
What I think is not possible.
Tight formation. One battery can burn them all.
Comrade Commander, we have cleared all land in 10 km radius.
Not a single Nazi before the crossing.
Cleared? You motherfucker! Who is shooting? From where?
- Comrade Commander... - Give order to withdraw. Fast!
Yes, sir!
What is that? Him?
Yes, Comrade Commander. It is him.
Retreat!
- Can't see a thing. - Where are we?
At the Devil's home. At his birthday party.
Kryuk, see the barn on the right?
- Yes, sir. - Shoot into its wall with antitank
- aim at the dome level. - Yes, sir.
- The demon is finished! - This was not him.
This was a T-4.
- We have arrived. -Yes, Berdyev.
Now we'll dance.
Done!
- His dome is damaged! - Finish him off, Kryuk!
Our cannon exploded!
- In his office? - Yes, sir.
Tell him.
Come in.
- Hello, Comrade Commander. - Hello.
- Want to eat? - No, thank you.
- What about a drink? - A drink I will not refuse.
Sit.
He disappeared.
- As though vanished into thin air. - But he burned.
Burned a lot. And Germans...
their crews don't sit inside burning tanks, you know that.
- They had to abandon it. - I think...
he has no crew.
That is the situation, Comrade Commander.
Are you serious? Maybe I poured you too much?
After the battle I asked Naydenov
how he was able to predict, when the Tiger will shoot.
And do you know what he said? That his tank had warned him.
That tanks sense when they will be fired at
and they warn their drivers. Only drivers usually don't hear them.
And he does hear?
Are you in your right mind? He's hearing tanks!
And how else would you explain his uncanny ability
to feel the presence of the Tiger?
How could he know that he will once again reemerge from the swamp?
Waiting in ambush for our attack?
You said Naydenov hates this Tiger with a passion
- because he had destroyed his tank? - Yes.
Why then, if he hears the warning of his tank,
he did not hear it back then?
Back then he did not yet have this ability.
This ability appeared after he burned.
What do you mean "burned"? What are you saying?
After 90% body burns people do not survive.
Naydenov also burned to death. Burned and was reborn again.
As a different person. Ideal war machine.
He is the incarnation of war. Just like the White Tiger.
So, Alexey Nikolaevich, you believe in mysticism?
In what I am saying there is no more mysticism
than in Darwin's theory of evolution of living organisms
influenced by the conditions of their existence.
Or do you find Darwin's theory mysticism?
I don't know about Darwin. But I believe in God and the Devil.
In war I started to believe in it. Although I am a Communist, just like you.
Remember, Major, my army is going
at the speed of 50 km per day towards Berlin
and nothing will stop it!
Regarding Darwin, I will tell you this... You are tired, exhausted.
Hence such nonsense fills your mind.
I'll give you leave for 10 days.
Go rest, come to your senses.
When you return, we will take Berlin.
Stop, please!
Stand here.
Come in.
Your seats are here.
Ask the German representatives
are they familiar with the Act of Complete and Unconditional Surrender?
Yes.
Do the representatives of the German Supreme Command
agree to sign the Act of Complete and Unconditional Surrender?
Yes.
The Delegation of Germany is offered
to sign the Act of Unconditional Surrender.
Let them come over here.
- Would you like wine? - Yes, white.
- We have Tokaji wine. - No, Tokaji is too sweet.
Then red.
The roast is not bad. Interesting, where did they get all of this?
I suppose from a restaurant. Looks like this is from Schlemmer.
Have you been there, Field Marshal?
- Where? - Schlemmer.
In the restaurant.
No, never.
Come here.
Let's go.
What is this?
Fresh frozen strawberries with whipped cream.
You know, for the first time in my life I eat fresh frozen strawberries with whipped cream.
What?
- Did I say something funny? - No, nothing.
Sorry, Field Marshal. Absolutely nothing.
Naydenov!
Sorry. I did not hear you coming...
I was fixing the tank.
- I see you are in full combat gear. - Yes, sir.
Even more than that. I loaded 14 extra ones.
- Have a smoke. - German?
French.
Where is the crew?
- Celebrating the victory. -Yes, of course.
Those devils! They'll drink themselves to death.
The war is over, Naydenov.
Do you hear me, Ivan?
The war is over. The End.
Until I burn him,
the war will not end, Comrade Colonel.
He is gone! After the Battle of the Vistula he is gone.
He is waiting. Waiting...
He will 20 years, 50, maybe a 100.
Then he will come out.
He must be burned.
You know that this must be done.
We know each other too long and too well.
Too much connects us for me to hide my thoughts from you.
The war has been lost. I know it.
Not just lost. Europe has been destroyed.
But can you imagine what will happen tomorrow?
Miserable Germany. It will be blamed for all the deadly sins.
The German people will be to blame for everything.
Thousands of books will be written.
Thousands of ugly documents will be found.
Hundreds of memoirs invented.
And we, Germany and I,
we will stand before the world
as the sole source of evil of all mankind, as the personification of Hell.
And we simply found the courage to do that
what all Europe had fantasized about.
We said, "If you are thinking about it,
let's finally do it."
It's like a surgical operation.
First there is pain, but then the body heals.
Have we not realized the secret dream
every European inhabitant?
Was that not the cause of all our victories?
Everyone knew that, about which they were afraid to tell even their wives,
we had declared clearly and openly, as befits a powerful and united nation.
They had always disliked Jews.
They always feared that dark and gloomy country in the east.
That centaur who is savage and foreign for Europe, Russia.
I said, "Let's simply solve these two problems."
Solve them once and for all.
Did we invent something new? No.
We simply brought clarity to all the matters
for which Europe wanted clarity and that is all.
Ever since the Earth rotates around the sun...
While there exist heat and cold, storms and sunlight...
so long will exist the struggle,
including struggle between people and nations.
If people had remained in paradise, they would have rotted.
Humanity has become what it is, thanks to the struggle.
War is a natural, normal thing.
War is going on always and everywhere. It has no beginning and no end.
War is life itself.
War is the starting point.
writers ALEKSANDR BORODYANSKIY KAREN SHAKHNAZAROV
directed by KAREN SHAKHNAZAROV
chief cameraman ALEXANDER KUZNETSOV
SUBTITLES WRITTEN BY: Katia Kutyavina (Seattle, WA, USA) e-mail: djkatish@gmail.com
For all other English subtitles to Russian movies made by Katia see: http://www.podnapisi.net/en/ppodnapisi/search/sA/264490