MOSFILM PRESENTS
THIRD ARTISTIC ASSOCIATION
SIBERIAN SAGA
POEM
THE CAST
VLADIMIR SAMOILOV VITALY SOLOMIN
SERGEl SHAKUROV NATALIA ANDREICHENKO
EVGENY PEROV MIKHAIL KONONOV
ELENA KORENEVA IGOR OKHLUPIN
NIKOLAl SKOROBOGATOV
PAVEL KADOCHNIKOV as the Eternal Old Man
Scriptwriters VALENTIN YEZHOV
ANDREl MIKHALKOV-KONCHALOVSKY
Director of Photography LEVAN PAATASHVILI
Production Designer NIKOLAl DVIGUBSKY
Music by EDUARD ARTEMIEV
Sound Engineer VALENTIN BOBROVSKY
Directed by BORIS VELSHER FELIX KLEIMAN
Newsreels LEONID EIDLIN Editing VALENTINA KULAGINA
Chronicles Director ARTUR PELESHYAN Editor VERA OSTRIMSKAYA
Directed by ANDREl MIKHALKOV-KONCHALOVSKY
PART ONE
AFANASY
BEGINNING OF THE CENTURY
Hi.
- What's wrong? - Nothing.
Where did you get these dumplings?
Nowhere.
- Whose are you? - Nobody's.
Gotcha.
Now I'll make dumplings out of you.
You scum!
- Hey, guys! - Let me go! That hurts!
What the devil's with you two?
Let him have it!
- Give it back, scum. - No way!
Fine.
Dad'll teach you to go crawling around people's barns!
- Thief! Beggar! - You're a slut!
- Beggar! Thief! - Bloodsuckers!
- Sour scamp! - Bloodsuckers!
You're a wet louse!
- Your girlfriend? - Hell, no.
They're my worst enemies, the Solomins.
Red-haired puke!
Who's that?
She just hangs around.
Dad found her in the woods on the Devil's Mane, half-dead.
Eat.
They're good, Solomins's dumplings.
Darn.
- What does she want? - Don't worry.
Like I said...
she just hangs around.
So why are you stealing?
They've got lots of everything. They're rich.
There's bagfuls of dumplings in the barn.
I've stolen up to 500 a night.
Aren't you ashamed?
Look who's talking... a runaway convict.
How do you know?
It's obvious. You still have the convict label on.
Where are your folks?
Mom drowned and Dad's chopping a roadway through the woods.
What roadway?
- Where to? - Up to a star.
What star?
He doesn't know himself. Whichever's brightest.
He was the best hunter in the taiga.
But he gave it all up for the road.
- He's chopping it alone? - Alone all right. He's useless.
We Ustyuzhanins are all like that.
Once something's in our head, ain't no getting it out.
Afanasy, you be great hunter.
Fair too.
Everybody know Afonya in Khanta.
Ted get sables,
squirrels and martens.
Solomin take all. No give Ted nothing.
Ted hungry. Ted die!
He's nothing like Afonya, you simpleton.
How many times has Dad told you it's your own fault.
He won't cover up for you anymore.
Hold on, Kolya. What's this all about?
He always does this... swaps all his sables for vodka
and then cries afterwards... tries to get 'em back.
- You look like good man. Help Ted. - Stop it. Get up.
Hold on.
Don't go to Solomin.
Wait till Dad gets back. Wait!
We'll see.
Take the gun!
Hi.
You're the master, right?
Right.
You've offended a man greatly. Give the pelts back.
Give the sables back to the man.
Who's a man? Him?
Maybe we should, boys?
We'll give 'em back.
Don't be afraid.
Don't stand there. Take the pelts.
Ted no need nothing!
- Vasya, flank him on the right. - Stay away.
I've got a bomb.
Give the pelts back now.
Vasya.
You don't know me.
I could blast myself and all of you.
I could do that.
Pete, don't be stingy.
Go ahead,
take your pelts.
Leave a couple of them here. You drank our vodka.
Mine!
- I'll be back. - Where are you off to, you wet louse?
- Rodion, I'll be back! - Get him!
- I'll catch you yet! - Rodion, I'm gonna bring Dad!
I'll be back, Rodion!
Hang in there, Rodion!
You caught a cat.
Yeah. The bitch îumped on me three times.
- Ruined my îacket. - You're needed in the village.
- What the heck for? - There's a runaway convict.
He took the pelts from Yerofei and stuck up for Ted.
The Solomins want to strangle him.
- What kind of a man? - A stranger.
- Is he a good man? - Sure is.
- Let him be. - They'll do him in.
Let 'em.
What if he burns the village?
Damn your village!
I just want to chop through this forest!
Dad, what's that?
It's the sisters weeping.
- But it's only a tree. - A tree.
And it, too, is alive.
We tread on living things,
chop living things.
Pa.
We live off living things.
No. Right now, Vodka's worse for me than a bullet.
- I've been out in the cold for seven days. - Pour me some.
Seven days in this cold.
500 versts.
That's what, six goose flights?
I guess you rode them horses to death.
No horses. The wind carried me.
So it's the wind and no horses!
A bomb.
You've got some guts, Rodion.
Alone in the taiga.
I'm not afraid of the taiga.
Ours is a cursed land for an outsider.
We're used to it.
All done.
Get down!
I'll blast you all to pieces!
I warned you!
Hi!
What are you doing under the table?
Catching mice?
Yerofei, I caught a pussycat in the taiga for you.
Take a look.
Leave it outside. I'll make hats out of it later.
Have no fear.
That's my father.
I'm feverish.
What's that you have?
A chain.
I was chained to the wall for four years like Tommaso Campanella.
Some name.
Must be a Gypsy or a horse thief.
He was a scholar. He lived in Italy.
His dream was to build a wonderful city... a City of the Sun.
He gave his life for that.
I know this book by heart.
It talks about everything... how to build houses
and how people will live in them
- and what the city will be like... - So what will it be like?
A beautiful city, a dream city even.
With pictures and gardens all around.
Silence.
The streets will be laid with white stone... marble it's called.
It'll be clean everywhere.
Incredibly clean.
If your Tommaso spent some time with an ax in our snowy land,
he wouldn't be so queer, and there'd be some use for him.
It does a guy like that good to be chained awhile.
Why, you...
You all live in the woods,
and you worship the woods.
What happened next?
Nothing.
My hands are getting numb.
Too bad.
- We should send for the old man. - What for?
I'm already here.
You stay out.
Wait here.
- Are you the Eternal Old Man? - That's what they call me.
And why'd you come? Who asked you to?
Shut the door.
- The bear understands. - Not a thing.
He's hibernating.
Listen, old man, why don't you give him to me?
He'll carry brushwood for me.
You still chopping?
Yes.
And the sisters weep.
Me too, when I chop.
You know where you're chopping to?
Don't matter where to.
As long as it's away from here. Far away.
You can't get away from yourself.
Well, are you giving me the bear?
You'll make him a boozer.
How can I refuse him a glassful
after a hard day's work?
If I pour him some, he won't say no.
Wanna bet on it?
Watch out, Afonya.
Your road leads straight to the Devil's Mane.
Gotcha!
Nastya, hey, let me speak!
You won't get away now.
It's not for me, Nastya. It's for Rodion. He's needs food!
You want dumplings? I'll treat you to some.
Have some berries, have some mushrooms,
and now some cucumbers to top it off.
Want more dumplings?
- Yes. - You'll have them.
Just strip yourself naked and run three times around the well.
- Chicken? - Me, chicken?
Here you go, Leshy.
Now get dressed.
You scared?
I'm not scared.
They're running!
Look over there!
They're riding it!
They're getting away!
- Hey, over here! - Oh, my God! He fell!
Give me a ride!
Wait, will you!
Hey, Solomins, want a ride?
Strip bare!
I'll chase you down!
Make way!
Go get 'em!
You lost mother-in-law!
The rudder needs to be fixed. Think you can handle it?
And the sail stretched.
You're mad at me?
I can't take you, Kolya!
It's not gonna be fun where I'm going.
Who do you think I am?
Aîailbird? A thief?
No, Kolya.
I'm a fighter, a revolutionary fighter.
I have hands of gold.
I can make weapons, handguns and bombs of any type with these hands.
That's why they kept me chained in solitary like an animal.
You think it was easy for my comrades to plan this escape?
They've been waiting for me in Irkutsk for two months already.
They need a man like me real bad.
I want to go to Irkutsk with you. We'll make bombs together.
Come over here.
You know who I saw in my sleep last night?
I saw the City of the Sun. You don't believe me?
You and I were flying.
Below us were lakes, rivers, Dad's road, and suddenly... the Sun City.
Kolya.
Hands up!
Hands up.
Hands up!
- He's clean. - Search him.
He's a trickster all right.
Isn't that so, Klimentov?
Okay.
You've started making toys instead of bombs, huh?
You've lost some weight since you ran away.
Hold this, boy.
I actually feel sorry
just looking at you, Klimentov.
To the iceboat quick, Kolya.
And you?
Set the sails. I'll îoin you.
Let go.
All sprawled out here like this.
Tired, Safon?
We've been chasing after you for nine days, Rodion,
through the taiga and fallen trees.
And my health is not what it was.
Well, sickness is difficult,
but the grave is easy.
I wouldn't be surprised, what with my sins.
Now, Safon, taste my little bread roll.
Hit the ground!
Watch out!
- Nastya, come have some dumplings. - I don't want any.
You fool.
They're taking Rodion away!
- They're taking Rodion away! - We'll set you straight!
Uncle Vasily, they're taking Rodion away!
Watch it!
Rodion!
The Solomins burned your iceboat.
Stop!
Whoa!
One has to suffer for the truth. Truth is the dearest commodity.
Campanella died for his dream and the truth.
My comrades are dying in prison for the truth.
Many more fine men will lay down their lives for it.
Remember,
the future will be
really beautiful.
And here in these swamps,
fantastic Sun Cities will rise.
Have faith.
Believe and wait.
Wear it and remember.
Let go.
Scum, let go! Let go!
I take my hat off not to you,
but to that future.
- Move it! - Giddyap!
Have faith, Kolya,
and wait!
ANASTASIA
THE TWENTIES
Kolya!
- Kolya? - Yes.
You gonna work or what?
Kolya!
What?
What are you doing up there?
Seeing if there's anything up ahead.
Miles and miles of marshes.
Cursed land.
Kolya, you son of a bitch, get down, I say.
- I don't wanna. - What do you mean you don't wanna?
I've chopped with you for five years. I've had enough.
You crazy?
Who wants your road through the marsh,
old fool?
Just you wait!
You're gonna get it.
- Hey, Pops. - You're gonna get it.
Just you...
- How did you... - Tell you what.
Just what kind of life
have you lived because of this damn road?
You...
Filth, swamps, mosquitoes.
- And no woman. - I'll show you!
Look at yourself!
The things you say to your father!
Maybe you're not my father.
Maybe Mom made me with Solomin while you were chopping that road.
Kolya.
Ouch!
Pa!
- I'll show you! - Pa!
- Oh, Kolya! - You'll strain yourself, Pa.
For God's sake, wait.
Pa!
Let me have my way or I'll get sick.
Hey, Nastya!
What?
- Phil Solomin's outside. - I heard. What else?
Nothing.
Off to the woods... to Kolya?
Be careful in the forest.
Please not before you're wed, Nastya.
I know how those Ustyuzhanins are.
Quick indeed.
What's with you, Father?
Let me be.
Where are the cartridges?
What do you think you're doing?
In the chest.
What happened?
- I'm thirsty. - What happened?
It's over.
We'll all go to hell now.
Where are the pelts? Let me smell you breath.
- You didn't swap it for liquor, did you? - It's the revolution, I tell you.
The poor are having a fling, marauding and killing people.
Thank God we got back alive.
What's this?
We grabbed what we could.
What came our way.
Where are you going, Sis?
- Let me go. - Go where?
Let me go.
I won't have you making out in the bushes
with that beggar.
What? Clear the way!
Clear the way!
I'm going to give you a berry.
I'll treat you myself.
Sweet berry.
And ripe.
Sweet.
Do you miss me?
Kolya!
Do you?
You do.
Life's no life without you, Kolya.
Where the heck are you?
I can't live without you any longer.
Come here.
What's new in the village?
- Our people are back. - Why so soon?
Some sort of a revolution.
What?
The czar was toppled.
Pa, the Russian people are uprising.
Where the hell have you been?
The czar's been overthrown. The people have revolted.
- Pick up the ax and chop. - Now...
Now...
we're gonna bring you down.
We've had enough.
We'll be on top now.
How long have you been smothering us?
And how long have you been crushing us?
Down with you!
A pig is no match for a goose.
Cool it. I may change my mind,
and you'll be an old maid.
That's enough. I can marry Phil Solomin.
- What? - You heard me.
They're the poorest in the village, but not mean.
Go on, you red-haired straw...
and never set foot here again!
Watch your step.
You might damage a nest.
What if I do?
The bird will fly away
and won't sing.
Without its singing, work will be dull.
Phil!
Keep away.
Phil!
You deaf? Some girl's calling for you.
Damn her. No match for a goose indeed.
I won't have her play with me.
Well?
- Come here. - What?
Oh, come on.
How about that!
Keep away!
Anastasia, shall I send
the matchmakers?
Yes, uncle Yermolai.
Phil, did you hear that?
Get down, Nastya.
- We'll talk. - What about?
Get down, I say.
No.
- Phil, hold it. - Phil, swing on.
Swing it yourself.
Faster.
Anastasia, you know me.
I just blabbed it out like a fool.
Nastya, I'm sorry.
Nastya.
Get lost.
And he gets it.
Hey, bitch.
What if I disgrace you?
I can, you know.
Drop on my knees in front of your gates.
- And I'll stay there. - Go ahead.
- I will. - Go ahead.
I will!
- Want some nuts? - Get lost.
The little flower came to be-
I bet you love me, not him!
I've forgotten all about you.
Phil, come here.
Swing.
Swing harder, harder!
Matchmaking, Yermolai?
A wedding. Just look at that wedding.
- See? There's gonna be a wedding. - A beautiful wedding.
- Dad, can I go with you? - Go on!
Yermolai! Sucking up to them rich men?
Our Phil's gonna marry Anastasia.
Anastasia,
come out now!
Anastasia,
or else I don't know what I'll do!
I'll wreck the whole place!
Anastasia,
come out or I'll leave without you.
Hey, Solomins, come out!
You're scared of the revolution!
Solomins,
it's curtains for you murderers.
The revolution is happening!
Don't whine. I won't touch you.
Go away.
Go some other way.
My heart's aching.
Aching.
Come on.
Bastard.
You know what? You'll never have Anastasia.
Take a boat, and go anywhere you want.
To the revolution or to your Sun City.
I won't go without Anastasia.
You're scared of the revolution. Scared!
Soon they'll bring you all down.
Anastasia's coming with me. I'm taking her.
Here we go!
Hold him!
Dad! I didn't...
I didn't mean to.
Get him!
Dad, I meant no harm.
Gotcha!
The hell you'll get me!
Let go!
Enough, Pete.
My turn now.
Clear the way.
- Not to death, Son. - Don't worry.
What are you doing?
Don't believe him, Nastya.
What was that about the czar?
Stay away!
Stay away or I'll kill you.
END OF PART ONE