GEORGIA-FILM Studio
M. Yu. Lermontov ASHIK KERIB (An Oriental Fairy Tale)
Yuri MGOYAN as Ashik Kerib Songs Sung by Alim Gasimov
Starring: Sofiko Chiaureli Ramaz Chkhikvadze
Konstantin Stepankov Baya Dvalishvlli, Veronika Metonidze
Written by Guiya Badridze
Directed by David Abashidze Sergey Paradzhanov
Director of Photography Albert Yavuryan
Production Designers Georgy Meskhishvlli
Shota Gogolashvlli Nikolai Zandukeli
Music by Dzhavanshir Kuliyev Sound by Garry Kuntsev
Choreography by Georgy Aleksidze
HARVEST CELEBRATION
HE LOVES ME... HE LOVES ME NOT... HE LOVES ME!
He loves me... He loves me not...
Loves me, loves me... Ioves me not...
She loves me... Yes, she loves me, she loves me...
O, Magul, my love!
THE RITUAL OF BETROTHAL
Greetings, Aga!
Good day. I'm happy to see you. I'm enchanted.
So you want my daughter for your son? Excellent!
O, my God!
My son is in love with your daughter, the beautiful Magul-Megeri.
My son is in love and young, but not rich.
He has a pure heart.
Providence has blessed both with beauty and enchantment.
The heavens have given their blessing, now it is your turn.
So you have come to take my daughter?
This girl of heavenly beauty?
Good for you. But you have no money.
Instead of precious presents you have brought me rose petals.
I am flattered! Here is my daughter for you!
Did you have a good look at her? And now leave here, beggars!
There will be no wedding, you paupers!
Get out! I don't want to see you here again!
THE MINSTREL'S WOE
A vOW IN THE BLUE MOSQUE
Kerib, my beloved,
I shall be your guiding star.
The light of day is as unbearable as the gloom of night if we are apart.
I will wait for you a thousand days...
A thousand days and nights will I wait for you.
GOING AWAY TO EARN MONEY
A PERSISTENT COMPANION
Wait, man! I have recognized you, poor minstrel!
We are going the same way, so let's travel together.
Those who walk and those who ride cannot be companions.
You are wrong! Wait, minstrel!
Listen to me. Put your trust in me.
We are both on the same long road.
Go away. You and I follow different roads.
No, we are going the same way.
Let us get acquainted.
Or if you wish, we could be friends.
I think I know you. You look like Kurshud-Bek.
This is very amusing.
I may look like Kurshud-Bek,
but I am quite a different person.
Open your eyes: I'm not him. We'll have to travel together.
Don't be so stubborn, minstrel. Tell me, how can I help you?
As they say, there will always be good people on earth.
And you said that a horseman could not become your companion.
I only want to be your friend.
I like you very much, minstrel. Do you understand?
Farewell, my foolish, trusting minstrel!
A fool is short of brains, and I have a long way to go.
A HORSEMAN IS NO COMPANION FOR ONE WHO TRAVELS ON FOOT
Hey, people! Ashik Kerib is dead!
Yes, he's dead! He has drowned in the river!
If anyone doesn't believe me, here are his clothes!
Hey! Mother of the minstrel! Your son is dead.
I myself saw how the river carried away his body.
Look, here are his clothes!
Woe is me! Why have I been punished this way?
Where are you, my wretched son?
Why did you leave me alone in this world?
Woe is me! Darkness comes over my eyes.
I see nothing. I have gone blind.
The light of my eyes has been extinguished! Woe is me!
LAMENT FOR THE MINSTREL
Magul, you are free of your vow now, you may become Kurshud-Bek's wife.
No, never!
I shall dress in black and wait for him forever.
GOODNESS
I am fulfilling the will of my grandson...
And the will of the one in Heaven.
Take these clothes.
Here, the robe and the turban.
May God protect you!
We recognized you. You're a minstrel from the neighboring village.
The river washed up your lute onto the bank near the mosque.
The lute did not sink. It's pure and blessed.
Take it and play for people to enjoy.
And now follow us.
Come on.
An old minstrel is dying in the village.
He wishes to see you.
Accept his prayers and blessing.
Praise the Lord, that he allowed us to meet.
Your lute was washed up onto the bank near the mosque.
It is blessed.
Give it to me.
Receive it now from my hands...
And never part with it again.
May God protect you!
Get up, teacher. Minstrels only die on the road.
Yourjourney is not over yet.
It is over.
I was born in this village, and I will die in this village.
CARAVAN ROUTES
AZIZ AND VALE, THE PATRONS OF MINSTREL SONGS
Wake up, Ashik Kerib!
We are the guardians of minstrels.
We shall be by your side
during the hardest ordeals.
Hurry up, minstrel! Don't be late for the marriage of the blind.
Hurry! Hurry!
The groom has already kissed the bride.
Don't be late, minstrel!
Ahead of you are the weddings of the poor and unfortunate.
Make haste, minstrel! The wedding of the deaf and dumb awaits you.
THE DOMAIN OF NADIR PASHA, SON OF THE LATE NARGIZ-KHANUM
I greet you!
I am a minstrel, and this is my lute.
I have come to the Pasha, to praise him in word and song.
Greetings, minstrel!
Accept my greetings, too.
Welcome.
Sing your praises for me.
Praise me and my late mother, Nargiz-Khanum.
Sing and praise my name so all the world may hear.
Sing of my virtue
and let the world know of my majesty.
As a reward...
I shall give you a fabulous carpet.
Go on, sing!
I am very tired from my journey.
Let the world know of my majesty
and of the virtue of my late mother, Nargiz-Khanum
Or can't a minstrel sing in a golden cage?
I have ordered you to sing, miserable beggar!
If you don't like a golden cage,
I shall have you cast in golden chains!
Leave! You may rest in my garden!
I have triumphed!
THE HAREM
NADIR PASHA'S REvENGE
You treacherous souls! You poisonous snakes!
You foul butterflies! I'll cut you in pieces, traitresses!
The destroyer of souls, Sultan Aziz, is ready to meet you, Ashik Kerib.
The warlike sultan will bind you in a shirt of iron mail.
And your lute and your lips will be silenced.
Beware of him!
Be careful!
Look after yourself!
THE WARLIKE SULTAN
Play!
I cannot play.
I command you to play!
My arms are bound in this shirt of iron mail.
It is difficult for me to hold my lute. So how can I play?
You forget that I am Sultan Aziz! Play!
I cannot breathe. Let me go!
Is that so! Then I'll have you thrown into a tiger's cage.
I cannot sing.
Off with his head!
Do not say you cannot sing! Off with his head!
Go on, sing! My tiger is waiting for you.
THE DEFILED HABITATION
Wait! What do you want from me?
I am a minstrel and this is my lute.
Stop beating me! Do not break my lute!
Stop it! I am your brother!
You cannot be my brother.
You are our enemy! Let sword and spear pierce his breast!
Anyone who travel in a foreign land is an enemy! They are all enemies!
THERE IS ONE GOD
THE MINSTREL'S LAMENT AND PRAYER
Open the gates, I want to pray.
I must make a confession to God.
O, lofty heavens! No one would open the gates!
Mother, where are you? Why have you abandoned me?
Who has defiled my home?
Who has put out my fire?
Who has let these evil spirits live here?
Away! Away! Don't touch me! Get away!
This bread. Baked by a mother's hands.
This bread is itself a mother's hands.
Bread baked in her warmth and love,
mixed with a mother's tears
and baked in her bosom.
THE SAINT ON A WHITE HORSE
Who is groaning here and disturbing the heavens?
Is it you, poor minstrel? You still do not have the money.
You have wandered far in the world and met many hardships - all in vain.
Kurshud-Bek is going to marry your Magul.
Quickly mount my horse
and I will take you home
before you can bat your eye.
Make haste!
Magul is still waiting for you.
Close your eyes and we shall fly.
Earth and heaven, bear witness to a miracle.
Ashik Kerib is flying to his native land!
See, there are the walls of your hometown, Ardebille.
Take this purse.
If they do not believe
that you made this endless journey in only one day,
do a miracle.
Take the dust from the hoof of my steed
and wait for it.
Goodbye, minstrel!
A thousand days have passed since the joy of my eyes disappeared.
Born on a black day, I'm roaming black roads.
I see nothing and the sun over my head is black, too.
I'm waiting for him.
In one day, I have flown from Khamadan to Ardebille,
riding on the white steed of Saint Hazyr Ilyas.
In one day? Such a distance?
In one day? You're mocking at us!
You liar and good for nothing!
In one day, you say,
from there to here?
Look at this liar!
Have you ever heard such a ridiculous lie?
If you do not believe me, bring my blind mother here.
I will prove it to you.
What are you going to prove?
Bring my mother here and you'll see I'm speaking the truth.
This liar won't admit his deceit! He should be beheaded!
What are you saying, Kurshud-Bek? Today is your wedding day.
Who ever heard of blood being shed at a wedding?
How can we tolerate such lies?
Bring my mother here and I will prove my honesty.
Good people, can we permit this upstart to lie in this way?
What did you say? A day from there to here?
He is making fun of us! He is ridiculing us!
Do not believe him! Let me kill him!
Do not lose your hope, my friend.
The thousand days have passed. The last night remains.
I'm still waiting for him.
But at dawn I'll kill myself.
What are you saying, you who is more beautiful than a morning star?
Do not lose hope, my friend. There is still a whole night to wait.
Where am I? Whither have you led me?
We are at the wedding of Magul.
Why should I come to this feast of strangers?
Be calm, mother.
What could make me calm?
What are those sounds I hear?
No, it cannot be my son's lute.
My son cannot be here! No! No!
Calm yourself, mother, and listen.
Mother, it is I, your son Ashik Kerib.
Now I shall lift the black veil from your eyes.
I can see! A miracle has happened!
Mother! My mother!
Brother, you have returned, and heaven's gates have opened!
Is he back? He has come back!
This is a double miracle!
Ashik Kerib has come back! It is a miracle!
Rejoice, sister!
Your beloved Ashik Kerib has come back!
Cast away the poison, throw down the dagger!
Rejoice, sister, and be merry!
Merciful God, I thank you! My beloved has come back!
My dream has come true.
I thank you, Lord, for all the good you have done!
HONOURS FOR THE BRIDE'S FATHER
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF ANDREl TARKOVSKY